463 Crushing Heartache (1/2)
The battle cry that reverberated throughout the night was thunderous. Immersed in such surroundings, Sun Zihu and the western elites who had just arrived found it even harder to fall asleep considering that they did not feel like sleeping anyway.
However, Sun Zihu had issued his command, ”Sleep! Anyone who can't sleep tonight will be penalized for having violated military law! The list of names will be sent back to Marshal Wang and judgment shall be upon meted upon his consideration!”
It was an unreasonable order, but it was also a necessity.
The western relief troops and Sun Zihu knew that they only had the night to rest. After that, it would be blood and fire, life and death.
They also realized that Han Sanhe was attacking aggressively so as to interrupt their rest!
If the hundred and fifty thousand men from the relief troops who had just arrived did not rest well, the damage done to their combined combat power would be significant! At the very least, their inefficiency would prevent Han Sanhe's Dongxuan army from losing tens of thousands of men.
It might even turn the tides of war!
”What are Sun Zihu and his troops doing?” Fu Baoguo, who was so tired that he was losing his commanding shape, asked with reddened eyes in the latter half of the night.
”All that can be heard are loud snores,” answered a general.
”Good.” Fu Baoguo nodded with satisfaction. ”Elites of the west indeed!”
The other generals looked impressed as well.
These were no ordinary men indeed, for it required a tough state of mind to be able to sleep in such an environment. It seemed that the relief troops from the west had lived up to their name as elites and was no weaker than the east army.
The western relief troops were thinking to themselves, ”We know that we should sleep and rest. However, we really don't want to sleep, yet we have to. Firstly, Vanguard Sun has issued a death order. Secondly, the threat is looming over our heads. It's secondary if we infringe the military order; the point is that the violators will be reported back to Marshal Wang. If that happens, those names will be in the f*cker blacklist. We have to sleep no matter what. Besides, only good sleep and rest allows us to better fight that d*mned Han Sanhe. When we're well rested, we will fight Dongxuan well tomorrow – we will let them know that Yutang's military has the western troop in addition to the eastern army!”
The battle that persisted throughout the entire night finally drew its curtains around dawn.
Fu Baoguo paid the hefty price of seventeen thousand casualties in the battle. Dongxuan fared worse, leaving no lesser than thirty thousand corpses at the fort, while there had to be at least ten thousand men suffering from both light and serious injuries who had to be dragged back.
Both sides had dealt significant damage in this battle that saw intensive attacking and defending.
The Steel Cavalry, who were roaming about in the nearby forest in search for chances to sneak in the fight, ventured out over twenty times that night, emptying the arrows that they carried with them.
When the golden gong of the attacker sounded during dawn the next day, Fu Baoguo could finally breathe in relief.
It was about then that Sun Zihu came to request to fight!
”You know the most of the combat ability of the western relief division after all, so you're fully in charge of commanding them.” Fu Baoguo said, ”I only have one request; to fight for a full day of rest and recuperation for us!”
”Don't worry, Marshal Fu. The western army will give our best. Even if all of us are down, the Fortress of Resilience will remain guarded!”
Sun Zihu saluted earnestly.
Having traveled such a long way, what he had seen along his journey allowed Sun Zihu to truly understand the importance of the Fortress of Resilience. There were only flat plains beyond the Fortress of Resilience – there would be nothing left for them to hide behind!
Once this fort was overthrown, Yutang would be presented before the enemy, naked and pliant to their torment. It was no surprise that this spot was always attacked incessantly and cripplingly each and every time. This was the one and only path the invading enemy had to go through.
If Dongxuan wanted to invade Yutang, they had to overthrow the Fortress of Resilience. Only when they conquered this fort could they think of invading Yutang.
It was not entirely impossible to through the two mountains beside it, in a detour, but the condition was that Dongxuan's soldiers had to be experts above the fifth peak. Of course, it was not completely safe even to go over the two mountains beside the fort; there were innumerable cliffs and steep areas, their depths unknown. Even if a cultivator was already at fifth peak, there was no guarantee that he would pass them safely.
This was the experience Dongxuan had learned from countless, bloodied, lessons since Yutang had built the Fortress of Resilience; it remained impenetrable!
Han Sanhe was the God of War of his time and was unsurpassable in terms of tactics and intelligence, but he could only fight a tough war with Fu Baoguo which swung back and forth between success and utter failure before the Fortress of Resilience. Other than that, there was no other way that they could bypass the fort.
Sun Zihu had followed the western marshal, Marshal Wang Yunzhu, for close to a decade now and was also a noble warrior that fought for his own ground on the battlefield. Otherwise, he would not have been tasked with this arduous responsibility by Wang Yunzhu to lead this troop. He was indeed currently the most familiar and suitable person to lead the western relief troops.