Chapter 129 A Night in the Grid

"Ye Shuai, we've detected enemy troops sneaking over, about two or three thousand strong, lurking on our flanks." By dusk, the observation posts that Ye Tao had pre-positioned in key locations around the area had yielded results. Now that the Northern Liao couldn't break the stalemate head-on, they naturally had to consider other strategies.

"I'll take men," Liu Yong said calmly. "Just give me a thousand light infantry."

Ye Tao didn't hesitate. The front line indeed needed troop rotations, and it was best to use as few troops as possible. Although Liu Yong had served as a guard for so many years, no one dared to underestimate his ability to command troops. He was the former Chief of the Imperial Guards, and he had personally trained Ye Tao's guard battalion. Whether in terms of combat knowledge, troop leading experience, or other aspects, Liu Yong simply didn't show it, as Ye Tao didn't lack people to command battles.

"Liu-shu, I'm counting on you," Ye Tao nodded. "Take the guard battalion. Try to resolve the battle within an hour. Things aren't looking good here."

Liu Yong smiled, didn't decline, and left with his troops. Everyone could see what was happening on the front line. To deal with those few thousand men, a swift victory was indeed needed.

Fighting had continued from morning to night, and the enemy was still relentless, lighting huge bonfires on the riverbank for illumination and continuing the night battle. Throughout the day, they had continuously sent up sixty thousand men. These sixty thousand men proved that the Blood Kirin Army was the most efficient killing machine of this era, but they had also finally worn them down. Now, the enemy corpses piled up on the riverbank were so numerous that they began to affect both sides' operations. But the Northern Liao forces were bloodshot, and they had gained a foothold on the riverbank at the cost of over fifteen thousand casualties, forcing the Blood Kirin Army to finally abandon all the open ground in front of the camp. The Northern Liao army could now directly charge at the Blood Kirin Army's tiered camps.

Sun Bo's unit had been withdrawn for a while. The enemy losses at the hands of Sun Bo's battalion alone were no less than eight thousand. But the heavy infantry battalion suffered equally heavy casualties, with over seven hundred killed, exceeding twenty percent of the entire battalion, and almost everyone was wounded. But they were still fighting stubbornly. When Ye Tao ordered the heavy infantry battalion to retreat into the camp under the cover of the light infantry, longbow, and heavy artillery battalions, Sun Bo was still unwilling. The bloodshed and sacrifice of his soldiers had also made him red-eyed. He said they could fight again after a short rest, but as soon as they returned to the rear of the camp, the heavy infantry soldiers collapsed to the ground one by one, some falling asleep, some simply collapsing from exhaustion, even before they could remove their armor. Under the protection of their comrades, the relaxation of their spirits allowed the exhaustion of a whole day of fighting to erupt completely. This wasn't something that could be recovered with a rotation. The fatigue had penetrated deep into their bones. Now, the guard battalion and supply battalion soldiers, who had better preserved their strength, immediately helped them remove their armor, then treated their wounds and forcibly supplemented the exhausted soldiers with some nutrition.

The heavy artillery battalion was also exhausted to the point of death, and the rate of fire had dropped to a very dangerous level. Ye Tao had already had some of the supply battalion soldiers fill the positions of loaders, allowing the heavy artillery battalion soldiers and officers to only be responsible for aiming, and letting those loaders with wounds all over their hands rest for a while. The two guys who had been arguing so loudly on the broadcast earlier no longer had the energy to quarrel. They looked at each other and smiled wryly, rushing up to help wherever adjustments were needed, their voices almost completely gone.

The longbow battalion soldiers were equally tired. Throughout the day, they had each fired an average of over two hundred arrows, far exceeding the normal load. While inflicting huge casualties on the enemy, they also endured immense pressure. Some soldiers were so tired that they couldn't even lift their hands, and were actively resting, wiping themselves down with medicine to recover. Those whose hands and fingers had been cut by the bowstrings refused to retreat if they could still draw the bow, and the sight of the blood-soaked bowstrings was especially tragic. Although the longbow battalion was positioned relatively far forward, because the heavy and light infantry were stacked in front of them, and they were positioned on a relatively high hillside, only a few times when the enemy charged close did stray arrows cause less than double-digit casualties. But now, the longbow battalion's long-range combat power was at most sixty percent of its peak. Those soldiers whose wounds were already seriously affecting their archery simply threw down their bows, hastily bandaged their wounds, tied their close-range weapons to their hands with cloth strips, and silently stood in the ranks of the light infantry. In normal times, this would of course be prohibited. But now, the light infantry officers could only pat them on the shoulder and remind them to be careful.

Ye Tao shook his head slightly. He couldn't bear to see the soldiers falling one by one. Not because there were so many disciples from wealthy Eastern Peace families, but because each one was an excellent soldier. The combat power and will they had shown had already shocked the enemy. After such a truly bloody battle, the Blood Kirin Army would definitely be stronger than it was now. They would better understand why such strict training was needed, why they would always replace their original armor and weapons with better equipment, why they drilled in formation again and again, and why the instructors didn't allow anyone to make mistakes. They would understand what the Blood Kirin Army's "strength and glory" was forged from...

Strangely, Ye Tao didn't even for a second doubt that they would win, that they would wait for Zou Shuangwen's unit to capture Xiangning City and come to support them. Perhaps it was also because of these soldiers. The will to win had been instilled into their blood. They hadn't lost their minds because of the sacrifice of their comrades, because of the repeated battles, because of blood and fatigue. Ye Tao knew that these soldiers were now even more insane. Just now, even though the numbers were shrinking again and again, even though the ranks were getting thinner and thinner, the heavy infantry formation was still straight and level, and the swings of the long-handled broadswords were completely in accordance with Sun Bo's command: "One, two, kill!" They pierced the enemy ranks again and again. And at this time, the longbow battalion's shooting was even more orderly. Just now, after a "shoot" command, the twang of the bowstrings of more than two thousand people sounded like a single sound, and even the archers themselves looked at each other doubtfully after shooting, and then continued to draw arrows, nock arrows, raise their bows, draw the strings, and shoot...

Wasn't this a kind of madness? This madness was even greater and more terrifying than hysterical roars, than the mindless release of emotions. The current Blood Kirin Army was displaying one hundred and twenty percent or even more of its strength. They never thought about defeat, but instead looked down on the Northern Liao army charging up again and again, as if they were considering how many people they were planning to send to continue to die.

When another twenty thousand men were lined up on the riverbank, ready to be sent up to charge the Blood Kirin Army's camp, Gao Senqi naturally couldn't still be resting.

"Now... you know, right?" Gao Senqi said to the silent generals, "It would be a bargain to break through Ye Tao's formation with fewer than forty thousand casualties. If we can capture Ye Tao, that would be a great achievement. Although, that's probably unlikely."

The surrounding generals still didn't say anything. Throughout the day, these casualties had made them tremble with fear. The Northern Liao soldiers below were completely relying on hatred, madness, the officers' stern but inwardly fearful agitation, and the lure of heavy rewards to fight. This was only a small part of the Blood Kirin Army, and although they had the advantage of terrain, the fact that they hadn't collapsed after a day of relentless attacks was already unimaginable. No wonder Gao Senqi had brought three hundred thousand troops, and was still so apprehensive. They should be apprehensive... If the three hundred thousand troops were to face the fully deployed Blood Kirin Army in an all-out battle on the plains, they really didn't have much confidence that they could win now. The Blood Kirin Army was too terrifying. Almost every time they killed a soldier of the Blood Kirin Army, they had to pay several times the price.

"Now the Blood Kirin Army's light infantry has rested almost enough, and their stamina is abundant, and there's also Ye Tao's guard battalion. After fighting for a day, it's likely that the threat from the longbow and heavy artillery battalions will be much smaller now, but with just these two units, I don't know if there's any hope of breaking through after grinding for a whole night," Gao Senqi sighed. He glanced into the distance and sighed again, "That ambushing force has been wiped out. There are no more opportunistic methods. Everyone, go organize the night battle."

Zhang Lixian sighed and said, "Young General, I'll go supervise the battle on the other side of the river."

Gao Senqi glanced at him and said, "General Zhang doesn't need to blame himself. This battle, no matter who fights it, I'm afraid it would be the same situation. We're fighting with numbers, and they're fighting with will and training. We'll see who can hold on longer. It's better for General Zhang to stay here and oversee things. We need to stabilize the army now."

Zhang Lixian sighed and nodded in agreement.

"Anyone who dares to spread rumors and disrupt the morale of our army will be dealt with by the respective units," Gao Senqi ordered indifferently. Everyone responded loudly. For the current situation of filling the battlefield with human lives, this order was absolutely necessary.

And Ye Tao, at this time, was sitting in the command post, listening to Liu Yong, in an extremely calm tone, broadcasting the results of the ambush operation to the entire army. They had used their preparedness against the enemy's unpreparedness, and at the small cost of two killed and seventeen lightly and heavily wounded, they had annihilated the enemy's lurking forces without taking any prisoners. Even the heads of those high-ranking officers had just been sent to the enemy camp on the riverbank with crossbow artillery.

After reading the battle report, there was only a soft discussion in the entire camp. Everyone seemed more concerned about the fighting in front. The light infantry had already repelled three waves of enemy attacks in a row. Looking at this somber atmosphere, Ye Tao said helplessly, "Make some noise." Liu Yong smiled, knowingly took out a record from a box placed aside, put it on the record player, placed the microphone of the battlefield broadcast next to the record player, and carefully placed the needle on the record. Melodious music immediately spread throughout the camp.