Chapter 213
Chapter 213 – Rescuing Lu Zhi
One kilometer south of the ambush areas .
Zhou Cang was on full alert today since the spies had warned him about the ambush operation . Lu Zhi and his family were also ready as the cages were unlocked . With a light push, they could open the cage and flee from the caravans .
All troops surrounding the caravans were all Zhou Cang"s men and the bribed men . Everything was set .
The breath of Zhou Cang was short and quick as he was nervous . Even if they managed to break away from the marching troops, they still had to fend for themselves until they could reach either Nie County or Shangdang .
He was praying that Jinyang Army could catch up soon .
Today, Liu Ping did not come to hara.s.s or threaten to execute the prisoners, which relieved their stress . Although they had not eaten proper food for months after their imprisonment, their eyes brightened as they were waiting for today .
*BOOM*
*RUMBLE*
A loud commotion broke out a kilometer in front of them . Because the marching troops were crowded, n.o.body could see what had happened at the front .
The sound pulled Zhou Cang back from his thought . The ambush had begun .
"NOW!"
*CLANK*
All prisoners, Lu Zhi"s family members, and household servants broke out from their wheeled cages . At the same moment, the hired soldiers drew their weapons and began their slaughtering .
"What are yo-ARRRH!"
"Traitors!"
The bribed soldiers were conscripted soldiers that Dong Zhuo had drafted . They had no loyalty toward the Imperial Army or the court from the very start . With a promise of gold and status in Julu, they were willing to take risks .
"KILL!"
A mix battalion of five thousand men and one thousand cavalries turned around and attacked the reserve troops behind them .
As everyone broke out of their cells, Lu Zhi guided his comrades to follow after the uprising troops .
"Follow closely! We"ll steal their supply wagons!"
A dozen of Lu Zhi"s relatives and a hundred servants had been dying for this chance to break out . None of them defied Lu Zhi"s order .
The reserve troops at the back of the marching lines had not yet taken out their weapons . Zhou Cang rushed at them and swung his halberd, killing five of them in one swing .
Like a spearhead, his horse charged into the dense crowd while the hors.e.m.e.n charged after him without a prior discussed plan or consultation . Everyone understood their roles without saying a word .
While one thousand hors.e.m.e.n were diving into the backlines, the one thousand elites of Julu led the four thousand bribed soldiers to charge at the leftover soldiers that survived the horse onslaught .
The charge lasted for five minutes before the troops on the front realized what had happened at the back .
"They are breaking away!"
"Deserters!"
"Kill the traitors!"
A thousand Imperial soldiers turned around to chase after Zhou Cang and the rest . However, the other troops did not bother coming after them .
"Soldiers! Help us kill the traitors!"
Reluctant appeared in the ordinary soldiers" eyes . Dong Zhuo had forcefully conscripted these soldiers from western provinces, which had nothing to do with this political war . They were not willing to follow the orders of the n.o.bles or the professional troops .
"PROTECT THE EMPEROR!!"
Another voice came from the front, which seemed to be a relayed message . Something had happened to the Emperor near the ambushed areas .
"Ignore the deserters, help the Emperor!"
"To the front! Hurry!"
All of the attention was on the ambush site further ahead . Battalion commanders immediately issued an order to rush forward .
In the end, only a thousand soldiers of the n.o.ble houses chased after Zhou Cang as the commotion at the ambush site diverted the majority of the soldiers" attention .
Within a minute, n.o.blemen"s private troops caught up with Lu Zhi and Zhou Cang"s men . The distance was only a hundred meters away .
Lu Zhi looked back as he heard the noise of the pursuing infantries . Seeing the rus.h.i.+ng Imperial soldiers, Lu Zhi shouted .
"I need a thousand men with me . Give me a sword!"
Although Lu Zhi was a scholar in his 40s, he had basic training in martial arts since he was born in a n.o.ble family . In terms of fighting, he had never lost against a common soldier .
Because Zhou Cang was busy paving the ways for the infantries on the frontline, he did not notice the pincer attack from the back . Thus, Lu Zhi had to take over the army command .
A platoon of a thousand men answered the call of Lu Zhi as they also noticed the pursuers . A rearguard unit was formed as they improvised .
The mixed force of a thousand men collided with the oncoming troops, generating the sounds of the metallic crashes and death throes . Lu Zhi was also part of the one thousand rearguards . He mixed in with the army and attacked the nearest enemy .
*SWUA*
One soldier dropped dead by the hands of the scholar . Lu Zhi stepped back and darted his eyes around to check his surroundings, looking for another enemy to kill while checking the status of the battlefield . As he realized that he was in the middle of the ally"s pack of formation, Lu Zhi used this opportunity to observe the situation of the battle .
It was one thousand versus one thousand men, with soldiers on both sides having similar skills .
Lu Zhi was part of the group"s left flank, and the his soldiers were pus.h.i.+ng into the Imperial soldier square formation . On the other hand, the middle group of Lu Zhi"s team was falling apart by the charge while the right wing was in a stalemate with the enemies .
If this continued, the rearguard formation would be broken into two!
"There should be a lieutenant leading the charge in the middle . Then I can do this . "
In terms of knowledge, wisdom, and stratagems, Lu Zhi was confident that he could apply them into a real battle situation . He was not afraid of any basic battle tactic such as charging through the middle .
"MIDDLE TROOPS, DISENGAGE AND MOVE TO a.s.sIST THE RIGHT WING! LEFT WING, BREAKTHROUGH THE ENEMY LINE AND CIRCLE AROUND THEIR BACKLINE!"
"ZHOU CANG! I NEED 500 MEN TO REINFORCE THE REAR!!"
Before the formation collapsed, Lu Zhi sent a maneuvering command .
As the center troops heard the shout, they regrouped with the right wing which strengthened its fighting force . The situation of the right side changed as the soldiers managed to break the stalemate, killing more enemies than they lost their soldiers .
By sacrificing the center formation, the two wings destroyed the flanks of the incoming troops .
Meanwhile, the center of the pursuing force was shocked that the rearguards allowed them to pa.s.s .
"Ha! They"re stupid! Troops, charge with me! We"ll ignore these bunches and go after the deserters!" The leading n.o.ble laughed .
After a brief fight, both sides lost a similar number of men . Seven hundreds of the pursuers disregarded the 800 rearguards and continued moving toward the family members of Lu Zhi .
"BOX IN! LEFT WING, RIGHT WING, CHASE AFTER THEM!" Lu Zhi shouted again .
"HAHAHA! What an idiot! It"s too late to help them now!"
The n.o.ble still had not stopped laughing as he led the charge further . Before they could start slaughtering the peasants and the innocents, another group of 400 soldiers blocked their path .
"Ptut! Kill these fools! Get rid of them!"
The n.o.ble saw that their number was lower than his army, so he believed that it should be an easy fight .
*CLANK*
*SHAAAA*
The two platoons collided . As the n.o.ble had thought, they had the advantage in number . The Imperial men pushed hard on the rearguards that they were killing faster than the rearguards were killing their men .
However, he forgot about the army which was chasing after them from behind .
"SHAAAA!!"
Eight hundred men of Lu Zhi regrouped behind the n.o.ble"s army and attacked their soldiers from the back .
"ARGH!"
"They caught up!"
"WHAT!?" The n.o.ble was shocked by the sudden development .
"Spread out! Surround them!"
Behind the pincer rearguards, Lu Zhi waved his arm, commanding the placement of the unit . The eight hundred men spread into thin files and began picking on the stragglers behind the n.o.ble army .
Meanwhile, the surviving reinforcement of rearguards managed to regain their ground from the distraction . They regained their momentum and killed more enemies than they lost .
One company on the front and the other one on the back, two companies had flanked the pursuers . The two troops chewed the surrounded army of n.o.ble in an instant .
"Impossible! This is impossible!!"
*SOEK*
An ordinary soldier killed the n.o.ble with his spear, ending the fight of the rearguards .
"YAAHH!"
"WE WON!"
The surviving soldiers roared a warcry . Some of the first-timers had been baptized from the short battle and increased their confidence .
"Good job . Let"s go help the frontline . " Lu Zhi praised the surviving soldiers . Then, he gazed at the commotion over a kilometer away .
"Good job to you too, Tong . We"ll see each other again soon . "
"This time, I won"t be there as your mentor, but your loyal subordinate!"
"I"ll make you my ideal Emperor!"
…
Without pursuers, Zhou Cang, Lu Zhi, the family members, and the surviving 3,000 soldiers managed to steal supply wagons from the reserve troops .
The non-fighting personals got on the empty carriages and wagons . The rest of the crew acted as rearguards while Zhou Cang and his elite troops guided them on the front .
"Those guys are deserting . Why don"t you stop them?"
"Why should I? They"re not coming after us, then why should I provoke them? Are you going to stop them?"
"Err … no . "
Although it was apparent to the reserve troops, who were guarding the supplies, that this battalion was deserting the army, none of them tried to block their path .
On the contrary, they also had a similar idea . Thousands of reserve troops also stole provision wagons and begged Zhou Cang"s soldiers that they wished to tag along as well .
From the battered 3,000 men, their number increased to 6,000 men because the opportunistic soldiers decided to desert the army and follow them .
Zhou Cang and Lu Zhi were happy to welcome them because the more troops they could get at the moment, the better .
They knew that this prison break plan was not over yet .
From the spy reports, there was another army coming in their way, the Zhang Yang Army . These ex-Shangdang hors.e.m.e.n were rus.h.i.+ng here to rejoin with the Emperor .
If Zhou Cang and Lu Zhi continued moving in this large group, they would eventually encounter them in the middle of the road .
"Everyone, I need to reform ranks and duties . Anyone who can shoot a bow, follow this scholar gentlemen . The others, report to me!"
Zhou Cang displayed his experiences which he had learned in Julu . He began organizing the men to prepare for the possible battle with the group of cavalries .
Thirty minutes later, the battalion was reorganized into a proper army . However, Zhou Cang was still worried .
"Senior Lu, do you think we can defeat Zhang Yang Army with these men?"
Lu Zhi shook his head, "Impossible . Zhang Yang and his men are trained troops . Although they"re not elite, they are still formidable enemies . We"re also outnumbered . Instead of thinking how to win, we should first think how we can survive . "
"Then …"
The expression of Zhou Cang grimed . His face lost color as he lost his morale after hearing that it was impossible to win .
"Don"t lose hope just yet . " Lu Zhi patted Zhou Cang"s shoulder, "We still have a way out . "