Chapter 51 – Battle of Anping – Day Three
October 25th. 1 AM.
Tong's eyes snapped open as he woke up from his nap. He opened his radar map in a hurry checked if there was any movement.
Tong had ordered his men to station in the trench at the south and Zhang Liang troops at the west side beforehand. Meanwhile Zhang Bao and his men stationed on the wall.
He crawled in the southern trench to the first line and reunited with Hua Shi who was already there. She was sitting in the trench, looking at the radar map that Tong had shared.
"You're finally up. The raid team is ready."
"Alright, let's move. If you see any patrol units outside, you snipe them."
"Are you sure this is a good idea? The night battle sounds hard to me."
"If we don't fight back, they will just surround us and do nothing. Then we will probably lose."
"Ehhhhh!? Why? Haven't we stocked those potatoes and grains? Why are we going to lose?"
"Army morals, zombie. Humans are not robots. For both of us, we can survive till the end of times, but our soldiers cannot. They didn't have our mental fortitude or had been through hell literally like us, so they can abandon us easily when they lose hope."
Hua Shi still looked at Tong in doubt while Tong smiled wryly at her.
Siege warfare was a battle of attrition that could take months or years to decide the outcome, which was not favorable to Tong in his point of view.
Tong wanted to break the deadlock situation and drew Pan Feng and Guo Dian into small skirmishes so he could wither their forces numbers. Or even better, he could snipe down both of them if he had a chance.
If he neglected this and left them be for a few months, the soldiers would lose their edges and thought that it would be fine leaving the enemies be outside the gate. With their guard down, they would be vulnerable to ploys and tactics by the opposite parties.
Furthermore, without reinforcement and hope to break free from this entrapment, soldiers would get depress overtime, and might end up destroying the order from within by riot or desertion.
It was not a scenario that Tong wished to see it happened.
But now, Pan Feng spread his troops too thin as he separated his men into two camps, one was located 5km down south of the fort, while the other one was 5km toward the ease. A great opportunity awaited for Tong.
Unlike the last time when Tong raid Guo Dian camp, he took three thousand men with him this time along with Zhou Cang, leaving two thousand men in the fortress.
Tong could destroy the southern camp if he played his card right tonight.
The 3,000 raiders followed Tong's lead without a sound. From the first line of trench to Pan Feng camp was only 5 kilometer away, so they reached it in a couple hours.
…
***********************************
[Homing Arrow] LV. 5 (50/1,600)
- Fire a magic homing arrow at a locked target.
- Convert an ordinary arrow into a magic homing arrow.
- Passive skill [Bow Mastery] will be applied to the host once the skill is equipped.
Skill Cost:
- 1 Lifespan for firing homing magic arrow with ordinary arrow.
- 10 Lifespan for firing homing magic arrow without an arrow.
Skill Restriction:
- Homing effects only applies to a locked target in the range of 300 meters or lower.
- Range restriction depends on the level of the skill
***********************************
Hua Shi leveled up this skill faster than the others because she had many opportunities to use it without restrain. She had taken over a hundred lives with this skill alone in the past two days.
Along the way to the enemy encampment, Hua Shi used her long range homing arrows to snipe down patrolling troops and wanderers, allowing the troops to conceal themselves in the night to approach Pan Feng camp.
Afterwards after they reached the camp, Tong signaled his troops to stop and hide. He rechecked his inventory and the radar map for one last time.
Tong learnt his lesson from the previous night raid. He emptied out the unnecessary items and left 6 slots of his inventory available for more looting.
Then he started the operation.
Silenced the guards one by one, Tong and a squad of elites snuck into the camp. Some were stabbed in the vocal cord, and some had their neck sliced and unable to utter a sound.
Seeing that the guards around the barrier of the camps were down, the rest of the troops got in. They separated into small squads, and entered the tents where Pan Feng soldiers were resting in. Then, several small muffled voices sounded inside the tents and returned to its silence again in a few seconds.
If all 3,000 men managed to complete their tasks in silence then Tong could have win this battle without difficulty. But reality was harsh.
One of the squads failed to silence the soldiers within the tent, and a shout was heard.
"INTRUDERS!!!"
One voice broke the silence and a bell rang. Everybody in Pan Feng camp woke up from the noises.
Tong had a bitter smile on his face as he expected this to happen. It was impossible for the newly recruited bandits could complete this task with full marks.
He took out his pistol and ordered his troops to gather and form teams in a hurry. They had to finish this before Pan Feng managed to calm the situation and formed up in formation.
The commotion and chaos broke out in every part of Pan Feng camp. Pan Feng himself also woke up by the chaos and rushed forward to deal with the intruders.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
Tong supported his troops with his handgun while Hua Shi unleashed every light arrows she could fire onto the incoming soldiers. Zhou Cang also danced in the chaos and took out every soldier that came into his way.
One hour passed since the commotion started. Both sides had formed up in ranks and continued clashing toward each other.
Pan Feng camp took serious damages as a thousand soldiers were slaughtered before they had a chance to fight back. But the majority of the remaining men were part of Pan Feng personal elite forces, they managed to regroup and fought back.
Pan Feng jumped into the frontline and slaughtered a dozen men from Tong Army. Then he met Zhou Cang who stood out from the rest of the men. Pan Feng thought that he should be the enemy general.
"Your head is mine!"
"Insolence!"
Zhou Cang and Pan Feng roared as they clashed. The soldiers around them stepped back and left a circle space around them as both of them were dueling.
Tong noticed the commotion, he turned to Hua Shi and shouted as the surrounding noises were too loud.
"ZOMBIE, LOCK ON THE GENERAL!! HIS NAME IN THE MAP IS PAN FENG!!"
Tong remembered the name of the general. He was one of Han Fu men who appeared in the coalition force against Dong Zhou in the year 190 A.D. as he dueled against Hua Xiong and was killed afterwards.
Hua Shi who remained in the backline heard Tong's voice. She searched the radar map and found Pan Feng in the circle between the two troops. She locked on the target and fired her arrow without hesitation.
*WHOOSH*
*TINK*
Her arrow reached the duel circle, but it was swiped away by Pan Feng's axe.
"Despicable! You dare to soil our sacred duel!?"
*BANG*
A bullet pierced through his shoulder, causing him to lower his arm and almost dropped his axe.
"Honor alone cannot win the war."
Pan Feng glanced toward the direction of the noise, then he saw Tong who was standing on top of a wooden shelter with his pistol aiming at him.
Zhou Cang saw this chance. He hacked toward Pan Feng, aiming to slice him in half. But Pan Feng was an experienced fighter, he blocked Zhou Cang sword with his axe.
"ZOMBIE! AGAIN!!"
An arrow already flew toward Pan Feng before Tong had even shouted. It pierced Pan Feng's knee, causing him to stumble.
"Zhou Cang! Capture him alive!!"
Hearing Tong's order, Zhou Cang swung his sword side way and cut off Pan Feng's hand. The axe in his cut hand fell on the ground with loud thud while Pan Feng cried in pain.
Zhou Cang threw a hook punch which landed on Pan Feng's jaw. It blasted his jaw bones to pieces and broke a few teeth in the process, after which knocked Pan Feng out unconscious.
Zhou Cang then dragged the unconscious body back toward the backline while the troops behind Zhou Cang rushed up to block the pursuing enemy soldiers.
"Well done. I'll reward you later. For now, drag him to my wife."
Tong praised Zhou Cang and tapped his shoulder, causing him to feel elated. He then rushed back to Hua Shi with the body.
Tong glanced at the departing Zhou Cang and looked back at the battlefield in front of him. He shouted.
"Your general has been captured! Surrender now and I'll spare your lives!!"
The crowd were stunned when they heard Tong's shout. Tong troops erupted in cheers while Pan Feng soldiers had despair look on their faces. Some of them dropped their weapons immediately while a few groups ran away.
Tong didn't order pursuing the deserters. He already achieved his goal.
The southern camp and Pan Feng's 4,000 men had been routed.