The emperor would rather have a

Chapter 138 The Unpredictable Zhou Jun

The sky was covered with dark clouds, a hazy gray, and the sun shone through the thick clouds with a thin, pale light.

Li Yi rode his horse up a high slope and saw a winding column of Shu troops in front of him. Banners and shields were scattered along the mountain road, and a large number of Shu soldiers were fleeing in panic.

However, the narrow mountain road was flanked by cliffs, and the soldiers behind, unaware of what was happening ahead, were also thrown into chaos by the fleeing troops.

These Shu troops were imperial guards from the heartland, and their armor and clothing differed considerably from those of the Central Plains.

Especially the helmet on their heads, probably because it rains frequently in Sichuan, has a brim extending from the front to prevent rainwater from running onto their faces and obstructing their vision.

Wang Changgong led several hundred vanguard men, each carrying a long-handled broadsword, with spare weapons hanging on his back and waist; his burly body was armed to the teeth.

The soldiers following behind him were equally formidable. These warriors, who had fought their way out of the chaos in the Central Plains, surged forward like a flood, fearless of death, and in an instant, they spread into the Shu army's ranks.

The Shu army vanguard was busy cooking when the Zhou army suddenly appeared, and they were so frightened that they were scared out of their wits. Before they could react, the Zhou soldiers rushed forward fiercely.

Some Shu soldiers instinctively tried to pick up their weapons to resist, but they were met with cold spears and broadswords. Accompanied by the abrupt end of screams, a series of Shu soldiers fell to the ground.

The middle section of Qingni Ridge is extremely treacherous, with towering mountain walls on one side and the turbulent Jialing River on the other. Due to the limitations of the terrain, there are no military strategies or tactics to speak of; it's all about who wins when they meet on a narrow path.

With their retreat blocked, driven by the will to survive, some Shu soldiers abandoned their helmets and armor and scrambled up the gentler slopes on their hands and feet.

But they clearly forgot that while spears and swords couldn't reach them, bows and arrows could!
In an instant, these people became live targets. Zhou's archers followed the suicide squad forward, picking up their bows and arrows and firing wildly at the Shu soldiers on the hillside. People kept rolling down from above, screaming as they were hacked to death.

The skirmish had just begun, and everyone was so focused on charging forward that they didn't have time to care about surrendering and not being killed. When they saw any surviving Shu soldiers, they would raise their weapons and attack them.

The close-quarters bloody massacres in cold weapon warfare have a visual impact that is no less than that of later firearms, and in some ways even more shocking.

The enemy stood right in front of him, within reach. He slashed with his sword, sending up a jet of crimson blood. Blood splattered onto his face, and the stench of blood filled his nostrils.

The purest killing ignites the savagery hidden in people's hearts. At this point, war has lost all its embellishment and has returned to the most barbaric and primitive mutual slaughter.

The road was packed with people; there was no need to think about tactics. As soon as someone fell, someone else would take their place.

Li Yi was surprised to find that there was a troop of nearly a hundred soldiers at the forefront of the Shu army who were able to organize a resistance.

The leader was a military general on horseback, who shouted at his soldiers not to retreat and occasionally whipped them with his horsewhip to keep them in formation.

Li Yi immediately shouted, "Bring me my bow and arrows!" His personal guards promptly handed him his two-stone bow with both hands.

Holding the bow handle, Li Yi drew an arrow, nocked it, but did not rush to shoot.

He estimated the distance with his eyes, about a hundred paces... Normally, Zhou Jun's standard one-stone bow might be able to shoot that far when launched, but it would be very difficult to fire it horizontally, and it would be hard to kill.

Because the energy of an arrow dissipates very quickly after it is released, even if it hits the armor, you will only hear a sound, or you may not even hit it at all.

However, the two-stone bow in Li Yi's hands is different; the only concern is its accuracy.

"call out--"

Suddenly, a bowstring twanged, and the Shu general on horseback froze, then fell off his horse, the arrow shaft still trembling slightly between his eyebrows.

An arrow pierced his skull, and he was clearly beyond dead.

The general's mount was immediately startled and turned tail and ran. The Shu soldiers who had been putting up a fierce resistance scattered in an instant.

"Good!" "Li Duyu is a brilliant archer!" All the guards cheered loudly.

Li Yi laughed heartily, in high spirits. He was most proud of his archery skills, but he hadn't had much of a chance to use them in the two major battles of Gaoping and Xinkou last year. He relied entirely on his fierce determination to lead his men in a desperate charge.

However, his archery skills proved invaluable during this campaign against Shu. He killed Wang Luan, the commander of the Shu army in Tangcang Town, with a single arrow. Li Yi tossed his bow and arrows to his personal guard and looked up at the distant battlefield. Under the momentum of the Zhou army's charge, the Shu army offered almost no resistance, and the Zhou army swept through the vanguard of the Shu army.

Countless Shu soldiers were pushed off the mountain road and fell into the turbulent Jialing River. After struggling in the surging water for a few moments, they were quickly submerged.

Even swimming shirtless in a fast-flowing river is not something an ordinary person can do, let alone these soldiers who hadn't even had time to take off their heavy armor. It was as if they were tied to a large rock, so they naturally sank to the bottom very quickly.

Li Yi rode his horse down the slope and led his personal guards to follow the advancing army. Given his current status, he certainly could not personally lead troops into battle unless absolutely necessary.

As the commander-in-chief, he only needed to consider the overall battle plan; the task of leading the charge was left to his officers and soldiers.

Zhou Jun's vanguard was fighting fiercely, with blood flowing freely, while arrows were constantly being fired from behind. Arrows filled the sky, turning the mountain road of Qingni Ridge into a battlefield of carnage, with countless troops from both sides locked in a bloody melee.

At this moment, all words become pale and powerless; only one sentence can describe it: war is killing, and killing is war!
Zhou Jun marched lightly, carrying only the necessary weapons, rations, and a small amount of cooking utensils. There were no drums or bugles; the battle relied entirely on the generals shouting at the top of their lungs, and everyone charged forward headlong.

The long ranks of the Shu army were already wavering, and the fleeing soldiers were desperately pushing backward. Originally, there were gaps between the different units during their march, but now there were none at all.

It was like being on a packed bus with no room to turn around; many people were pushed off into the Jialing River.

"Don't block my way, let me through!" "Please, run to the back!"

Zhou Jun's thunderous shouts, mixed with the pleas for mercy from the fleeing Shu soldiers, echoed through the valley and the mountain walls.

The news of the Shu army's vanguard's defeat quickly spread to the rear. Li Tinggui stared blankly at the front of the ranks, no longer needing anyone to tell him what was happening ahead, because he could see with his own eyes the surging retreat of the Shu soldiers.

“Defeated, defeated…” Li Tinggui muttered to himself.

He never dreamed that this operation to send troops out of Qingni Ridge would unfold in such a dramatic way.

Where did these Zhou soldiers come from?

Li Tinggui felt that Zhou Jun was definitely not human, but a demon from the underworld... otherwise, how could his unpredictable movements be explained?

"General, let's retreat quickly! The terrain here is cramped, with absolutely no room to maneuver. If we stay here, we'll only be wiped out!"

At his deputy's urgent reminder, Li Tinggui finally came to his senses. He no longer cared about where Zhou's army had come from and immediately ordered the rear guard to turn around and retreat.

At this moment, Li Tinggui felt that things might not be beyond saving. The mountain road of Qingni Ridge was an obstacle for their side, and the same was true for Zhou's army.

Even if Zhou Jun's fighting strength is strong, the road is only so wide, and Zhou Jun can only push forward step by step.

As long as his men retreat quickly and set up their formation in an open area, they will at least have the ability to protect themselves.

Unfortunately, most things in this world don't go as planned.

When the Shu army retreated to the road entrance south of Qingni Ridge, they found that it had been blocked by the Zhou army, which had somehow managed to bypass the area.

With encirclement ahead and pursuit from behind, the Shu army was doomed to failure.

After an unknown amount of time, the fighting gradually subsided, and the Shu army knelt down in surrender, creating a vast expanse of armored soldiers.

Li Tinggui sighed deeply, raised his sword, and prepared to commit suicide. His personal guards hurriedly stopped him, snatching the weapon from his hand and grabbing his arm tightly.

"Why won't you let me die? I have failed His Majesty's trust; how can I still have the face to live in this world?"

Just then, a deep male voice rang out: "If Lord Li is alive, he has no face to see the ruler of Shu. But if he dies, how will you face the former ruler of Shu?"

Li Tinggui looked in the direction of the sound and saw a tall figure riding towards him, carrying a heavy silver spear. In the afterglow of the setting sun, the young general's body emitted a faint glow.

(End of this chapter)