Chapter 201: Chapter 142: Victory belongs to those who can endure
Translator: 549690339
The cold wind was fierce, and on the open field, which was still covered with a thin layer of snow, the golden sunlight sprinkled down, shining on the soldiers who were slowly moving forward in the snow, making them look like the incarnation of the Sky Gods.
However, these “Sky Gods” were not as brave and fearless as imagined. Instead, they shivered a little as they walked.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
The loud sound of war drums thundered, urging the soldiers to move forward faster.
Hearing the signal from behind, a group of knights rode back and forth among the soldiers, shouting loudly.
“Today, you will attack this formation. After this round, you will have plenty of food and wine and be able to rest for two days.”
“The general has ordered. Whoever climbs the fortress first will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver and will be integrated into our regular barracks. You can leave the First Camp.”
“The general has ordered. In this battle, those who advance live, those who retreat die. Whoever retreats without orders will be killed.”
The loud orders were repeated by the knights and fell into the ears of the soldiers.
The soldiers, who were struggling to move forward in the snow, looked at the galloping knights with both fear and desire in their eyes, some even showing hatred.
But no matter what emotion they felt, when the knights’ gaze swept over them or when the horses passed by, the soldiers lowered their heads and did not dare to look more.
The experience of these past few days had taught them that it was useless to offend the platoon leaders and camp leaders who were in charge of supervising the battle. The only result would be to be sent to the front line to withstand the fiercest attack of the enemy army.
For most soldiers, such an arrangement meant death.
No one wanted to die.
They didn’t want to, so they chose to obey the orders at this moment.
The enemy camp was soon in sight.
At this point, the soldiers assigned to attack the first array revealed a touch of determination on their faces.
Escaping in confusion would not bring a way of life. In the rear, there were supervising forces several times their own number. Those forces were arranged to supervise the battle.
Anyone who attempted to resist or escape would be met with a barrage of arrows from the supervising troops, creating a hornet’s nest.
Rather than fleeing, it would be better to charge forward and obey the orders. Perhaps, they would have a chance to survive.
With good luck, some might even be promoted as a brave warrior, taken out of the First Camp, and become a member of the supervising force, leading a good life.
This was what many had witnessed firsthand in recent days and the only glimmer of hope in their hearts.
As the gates of the enemy camp remained tightly closed, a thick layer of corpses was spread in front of the gates and at the corners of the camp walls.
These were the remains of their dead comrades and enemy soldiers from the past few days of fighting.
In the cold winter days, corpses lying on the ground would freeze into ice sticks in a short time, with no need to worry about the outbreak of diseases caused by too many corpses accumulated.
So neither side had arranged for people to collect the bodies.
As they reached about a hundred feet away from the camp, which was estimated to be within the enemy’s shooting range, the large army did not continue to advance.
The supervising military officers adjusted their troops’ formation, then coldly issued orders while looking at the uneasy faces of the soldiers.
“First team, second-team, attack!”
Hearing the command, the soldiers pushed the Cloud Ladders and Siege Towers, shouting as they charged forward.
In front of them was a small camp with 500 soldiers.
Two hundred of their own soldiers, dispersed across the 100-meter-wide battlefield, happened to cover the entire range of the camp wall.
During the charge, Lu Yuan, who was supervising the battle from the rear, also formed an arrow formation. They fired a rapid three-round volley towards the enemy camp, providing long-range support for the charging soldiers.
The hundreds of arrows, divided into three waves, rained down on the enemy camp.
Some enemy soldiers who had not yet managed to dodge were hit by the arrows, either being nailed to the ground or being sent flying down from the camp walls.
When the enemy soldiers finally managed to avoid the three waves of arrows and stumble out to meet the enemy under the cursing of their officers, the First Camp soldiers had already reached the walls. Some even climbed the ladders and Cloud Ladders onto the walls.
Then, when the two sides met, there was no need for words. One was an officer, the other was a bandit, and they fought with knives drawn.
However, there were still too many enemy soldiers in the camp.
After a brief skirmish with the First Rank soldiers, and with nearly a hundred of the enemy dead, the remaining soldiers were eventually driven back out of the camp.
While retreating, the surviving officers and soldiers cried out as they fled.
When they returned to their own ranks, they were stopped by their platoon leaders and immediately had one-tenth of the survivors executed on the spot.
It was already ordered that those who retreated without permission would be dealt with according to military law.
The execution of one in ten was a popular method of punishment in the army. This time it was put into practice.
After a group of deserters was brutally killed, the soldiers of the second rank were all on alert, and under the urging of their military officers, they advanced as the second wave to attack the enemy camp.
The slaughter on the battlefield has always been a matter of life and death, even among soldiers in one’s own camp.
This was true for the soldiers of the First Camp, and even for the soldiers of the supervising forces.
If the enemy camp was not captured by the time all the First Camp soldiers were killed, the supervising forces would have to march forward.
Before the enemy was defeated, no one could stay out of it.
As the fierce fighting continued at the front, Lu Yuan stood high on the commander’s platform in the rear, wrapped in his cloak and holding his sword, looking at the distant battlefield.
“Master, based on the current progress, by this afternoon, we should be able to break through the small camp.” At Lu Yuan’s side, a military officer assessed the situation after observing the battlefield for a while and spoke up..