Chapter 272 – Checkmate, MotherfOOker!
While Jia Xu and Tian Feng were duking it out, Li Feihong rode alone, rushing toward the east.
As Li Feihong was galloping his horse, monitors floated around himself.
Among his monitors, one of them showed an image of granaries and provision, which revealed the destination that he was aiming.
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Zhang Liao: There's a patrol group ahead. Turn left and hide!
The clan chat message popped in front of Li Feihong, which he pulled the horse reign and turned left per the instruction.
Five minutes later.
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Zhang Liao: They are gone. You are clear.
Zhang Liao: Continue southeast.
Zhang Liao and 10,000 Heavy cavalries were inside Li Feihong's [Private World] at the moment.
Last night, Li Feihong suggested that they should target Yuan Shao's food supplies to cripple their ability to sustain Yuan Shao's over 100,000-man army.
Jia Xu had devised a scheme. He and the rest of the army would act as a bait to draw Yuan Shao's eyes and his army while Li Feihong had to use his monitor abilities to sneak to Yuan Shao supply depots behind their main camp.
To reach their unnoticed, Li Feihong opened the gate to his private world, which Zhang Liao and 10,000 elite horsemen went inside.
Today, the skill cooldown had been reset, and Li Feihong could open his gates again. He rushed toward Yuan Shao's supply camp by himself so that he could summon the gates and allow Zhang Liao and his men to raid the camp without being noticed.
While Zhang Liao and his troops were inside, they did not stay there without help. They could see hundreds of monitors, which were broadcasting what was happening in the outside world. Zhang Liao and his men watched the monitors, helping Li Feihong navigating through the field of Yuan Shao's patrolling scouts.
2.30 PM.
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Zhang Liao: You're close! It's a bit further south!"
Zhang Liao: No guard in the area. You can get closer.
Li Feihong looked up. He could see that there was a line of fence further south, 700 to 800 meters away from him. He guided his horse and galloped toward the camp while he texted back.
Li Feihong: Tell me when you want to come out.
Zhang Liao: Not yet. Get closer!
Li Feihong got closer as he was asked.
500 Meters.
200 Meters.
"Who goes there!?"
A guard on a watchtower noticed Li Feihong. He shouted and aimed his crossbow at the unidentified visitor.
Zhang Liao: Don't panic. Tell him that you're Yuan Shao's messenger.
"I'm Lord Yuan Shao's messenger. I've come to relay his order!"
The guard glared at him in suspicion. More guards also noticed the commotion and gathered around. Their weapons still aimed at Li Feihong.
"Show us your token!"
Zhang Liao: Good work. Their eyes are on you.
Zhang Liao: Open the gate behind them. We'll take it from here.
Li Feihong read the messages and smiled. He raised both of his hands to the air while he manipulated the void gate to open inside the supply camp.
"Don't shoot! I'll find it. It's in my horseback!"
Several guards kept staring at Li Feihong, which they failed to realize that several horsemen appeared behind them.
*SUEK*
*SWUA*
A dozen guards fell as Zhang Liao and his men got out of the private world.
Li Feihong sighed a relief. However, he did not let his guard down as he continued to maintain his gate until the last soldier could come out.
As Li Feihong was busying stabilizing the gate, Zhang Liao and the men who got out began their works, throwing crude oil jars and torches at buildings. Those who had free hands rushed inside the camp and slaughtered everyone they found.
The fire spread within the camp as Zhang Liao's armored cavalries passed.
Five minutes later, a commander within Yuan Shao supply camp finally arrived to drive back the invaders.
"I'm Chunyu Qiang! Who dares to face me?"
A taunt of a commander drew Zhang Liao's attention. He charged at the officer and bellowed, "I AM ZHANG LIAO!"
*CLANK*
*SWUA*
In two moves, Zhang Liao beheaded Chunyu Qiang, one of Yuan Shao's generals.
After the head of the enemy general rolled on the ground, Zhang Liao had a new inspiration.
"Men! Every time you killed an enemy, shout my name! Repeat after me, I AM ZHANG LIAO!"
"I AM ZHANG LIAO!!"
"I AM ZHANG LIAO!!"
Li Feihong's expression turned into a meme poker face upon hearing the commotion and Zhang Liao's declaration.
'Is that how he became famous in ancient China?'
…
3 PM.
The supply depot was burnt to the ground.
Zhang Liao and his men regrouped with Li Feihong with smiles. Li Feihong nodded at them and texted to Jia Xu.
Li Feihong: Mission Accomplished!
Li Feihong: Zhang Liao killed a general named Chunyu Qiang.
Li Feihong: No casualty.
Jia Xu did not reply, but Li Feihong and Zhang Liao did not mind it. They thought that the battlefront over there might have been difficult, so Jia Xu did not have times to reply.
"Let's go back. Maybe we can ambush Yuan Shao if we're lucky," Zhang Liao suggested.
"We won't rely on luck. Actually, I'll scout with my monitors as usual. I'll tell you where we can strike."
Because Li Feihong used his skill and already closed his gate, he could not reopen the portal to his private world anymore today. He and his comrades had to travel back on horses instead of warping via the void gates.
…
…
5 PM.
A paled face messenger rushed into Yuan Shao's battalion where the main force located.
"Report! Our supply camp has been attacked! All of our food has been burnt!"
Yuan Shao choked upon hearing the news of the attack while Tian Feng's eyes almost popped out of his eye sockets.
"Call back all units! Full retreat!"
Yuan Shao roared and jumped off carriage. He got on his horse and galloped away with his bodyguards, leaving all forces behind.
Had it were others, they would have thought that Yuan Shao had forsaken his men. Tian Feng knew about his lord's behavior, so he figured that he rushed back to the supply depot himself to check the damage.
Tian Feng clenched his fists as he glared toward the direction of Jia Xu.
'I should have trusted my guts! There was definitely missing troops, and they sent a detached force to attack our supply base. Damn it!'
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
The booming sound of war drums shocked all Yuan Shao units which had been fighting. It was a signal sound that they were commanded to retreat.
"Why!? Just a little more and We can kill Lu Bu!" Yan Liang bellowed while his eyes locked with Lu Bu's glare.
Yan Liang's body covered in wounds and bruises. His armor was torn, and his helmet was gone.
At the side of Yan Liang, tattered Wen Chou was stabilizing himself on his horse. His hands were shaking, and his rough breathe quickened. The bleeding Wen Chou had was worse than Yan Liang's wounds.
Blood was all over Wen Chou's face and torso. It was not the blood of his enemies, but his own blood.
In front of Yan Liang and Wen Chou, Lu Bu and his Red Hare stared down at the two generals. His armor had traces of black gunpowder, and his chest riddled with shrapnel. Blood dripped from the small wounds on his arms and body.
Red Hare King's legs were also shaking. Its armor cracked, and long wounds could be seen on its hind legs. However, its eyes showed resentment as it glared at Wen Chou and Yan Liang's horses.
Lu Bu's eyes flashed as he noticed an opening. He leaped off his horse and slashed the crescent halberd at Yan Liang while he was in mid-air.
"ORA!"
*CLANK*
"FOOK YOU, LU BU!!"
The strike made Yan Liang's halberd shaft bent. Wen Chou used this chance to throw another bomb bag at Lu Bu.
Lu Bu used his free hand to draw his sword from his waist, cutting the bag in half before it exploded.
*BOOM*
The ignited fuse still got to the powder, causing a light explosion.
The flash of the small explosion blinded Lu Bu sight, yet he utilized his instinct and sense to locate Yan Liang and Wen Chou.
Lu Bu landed on the ground and waved his halberd at Yan Liang again.
*BOOM*
Yan Liang was sent flying from the impact while his horse had foams on its mouth. It collapsed and died from the exhaustion. Meanwhile, Wen Chou pulled his injured horse and rushed to his friend, throwing him on his horseback and galloped away.
The duel between Lu Bu against Yan Liang and Wen Chou ended after they had been entangled for hours.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
Lu Bu roared in frustration. Had it not because of the gunpowder bombs, he could have killed the two a hundred times over.
On other battlefronts, all battalions of Yuan Shao withdrew as well. However, Yuan Shao's generals and soldiers were not as lucky as the duo.
Xu Huang managed to capture Qu Yi during the middle of the fight. His battlefront was the cleanest among other places as Qu Yi's subordinates retreated after Qu Yi had been captured. The right wing under Xu Huang pressed on and managed to draw Tian Feng's attention for the entire battle. After Tian Feng commanded Yuan Shao Army's left side battalions against Xu Huang's forces, He could not proceed further.
Zhou Cang beheaded Sui Yuanjin, a general under Yuan Shao, and destroyed two 1,000-man battalions by himself. He staggered back to regroup with his men as he was soaked in red along with his followers.
Gao Shun's cavalries destroyed Gao Lan's 5,000-man platoon, but the general slipped away. Gao Shun attempted to press to the flank of Yuan Shao main force but was stopped by the archer towers and Gao Lan's remaining troops.
Lu Zhi organized a combination of trebuchets and archers to assist all other fronts, which his responsible platoons did not suffer a casualty.
Jia Xu, who was still standing on top of the watchtower had sweat all over his body. His drenched armor and cloth looked as if he had fallen into a river a few minutes ago. Jia Xu wiped bloody droplet from his nose as he finally exhaled.
"I want a pay raise … This is tiring as FOOk!"
Though all officers did well in the battle, they still had many casualties from Yuan Shao's archer towers, trebuchets, and their repeating crossbows.
Jia Xu was not optimistic in this battle of attrition. As long as more than half of 100,000 soldiers survived, he would call it a successful campaign.
As Jia Xu was freed from the battle command, he rechecked the clan chat as he recalled that Li Feihong messaged him.
Upon reading the news of Li Feihong and Zhang Liao's success, he laughed.
"Checkmate, motherfOOkers! Tian Feng, you fOOk up! BWAHAHAHAH!!"