Chapter 246
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Chapter 246: The Horn of Retreat
Amidst the horn blasts of retreat, the middle-aged man led Zhou Dongnan galloping back to West Plains City.
Then, he loudly shouted to the soldiers guarding inside the city.
“Military physician! Quickly call the military physician over!”
“Z-Zhou Jie…”
Hearing the voice, the middle-aged man, referred to as Zhou Jie, quickly responded after realizing.
“Your subordinate is present.”
“D-don’t stay in this city for too long.”
Zhou Dongnan, already somewhat excessively bled, spoke with all his might.
“Once all the outside troops have retreated, close this east gate, and then directly withdraw from the west gate!”
“Withdraw?”
Zhou Jie’s expression froze upon hearing this.
“But, Sir, you…”
“I’m fine.”
Zhou Dongnan gritted his teeth, speaking in a voice that by no means sounded fine.
“Just pull out the arrows and simply stop the bleeding for now.”
At this point, Zhou Dongnan coughed out two strained breaths, then spoke again.
“The enemy’s siege forces are too strong. Staying in this city is waiting for death. If we withdraw directly from the west gate, after the east gate of this city is closed, destroy its mechanisms. That might buy us a little more time.”
“Your subordinate obeys!”
“Oh, and also…”
“Your Majesty, please speak, your subordinate is listening.”
“Before leaving, set two fires in this city for me!”
As he spoke, a hint of unconcealed spite flashed in Zhou Dongnan’s eyes.
“Doesn’t he want to take this city back? Then I’ll return it to him!”
Zhou Jie’s pupils visibly constricted upon hearing this, as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately he remained silent, then acknowledged and withdrew.
Meanwhile, outside West Plains City.
“Hoo—”
With a long exhale, Luo Ji’s longbow fell to the ground, his completely exhausted hands hanging limp.
Liu Meng, who arrived soon after, dismounted in alarm, then knelt down.
“Your subordinate was late to protect you, please punish me, Sir!”
Luo Ji did not respond to Liu Meng’s plea.
Or rather, it was questionable whether he even heard Liu Meng’s words.
After enduring a battle that required long periods of intense mental focus, now that he relaxed, he felt somewhat dazed.
Maintaining this state, after an unknown amount of time, Luo Ji looked down at Liu Meng, who was still kneeling, and slowly spoke.
“Liu Meng, you’re injured.”
“Just a minor injury, thank you for your concern, Sir.”
“Minor injury?”
Glancing at Liu Meng, half of whose body was soaked in blood, then turning to look at the battlefield that had just experienced a fierce struggle, the piles of corpses Luo Ji saw sent a shiver down his spine.
“Gather the troops, settle the wounded, and then send people to clean up this battlefield.”
“Sir, clean up the battlefield now?”
For a moment, Liu Meng, somewhat uncomprehending, subconsciously looked at West Plains City, whose gates were tightly shut.
As if seeing through his thoughts, Luo Ji spoke again.
“If he has any sense, he should be gathering his troops and withdrawing from the west gate now.”
“Then we…”
Halfway through his sentence, Liu Meng’s voice cut off.
He had originally wanted to ask if they should send a unit to pursue, but upon reflection, how would they pursue?
The east gate was tightly shut, and they couldn’t get in.
And if they were to go around, would it be faster than the enemy’s direct straight line retreat?
Moreover, his soldiers had just endured a fierce battle and suffered heavy casualties, truly having no strength left to pursue the enemy.
Thinking of this, Liu Meng swallowed the words he was about to say.
Then, just as he was about to acknowledge and carry out Luo Ji’s orders, the thick smoke suddenly rising from West Plains City in the distance made him pause, and his expression instantly changed.
“S-sir! West Plains City is on fire!”
“That bastard!!!”
Luo Ji, already realizing what had happened, looked grim.
Having recovered some strength, he quickly rode Liaoyuan Huo outside the east gate, then shouted loudly.
“People in West Plains City, listen! I am Luo Ji!”
“Quickly open the city gate and let us in!”
After Luo Ji shouted three times with all his might, a young man poked his head out from the city wall.
“Is, is that the Leader?!”
“It’s me! Quickly open the city gate!”
That shining armor and Liaoyuan Huo beneath him could basically be considered Luo Ji’s trademarks.
Upon seeing them, the young man on the city wall was overjoyed.
“Sir, please wait a moment, I’ll go open the gate now!”
However, after some time passed, seeing the city gate remain motionless, Luo Ji’s heart couldn’t help but sink.
Then, in the very next second, from inside the city gate, the young man’s voice sounded again, with a distinct crying tone.
“Sir, the east gate’s mechanisms were destroyed by those outsiders! Now the city gate cannot be opened!”
“That scum!”
The moment his suspicion was confirmed, Luo Ji’s expression grew even more grim.
Then he shouted loudly.
“Tell the people in the city to work together to put out the fire!”
“Be careful to control the blaze, move all nearby flammable materials away! And…”
After giving a series of instructions, Luo Ji decisively led a unit of men to circle around West Plains City towards the west gate.
Meanwhile, after the military physician’s simple hemostatic treatment, the disheveled Zhou Dongnan had already withdrawn his infantry unit from the west gate earlier.
Looking at the long column of troops, Liu Kai, who was currently leading his troops hidden in the forest to the right outside West Plains City’s west gate, frowned.
He had been ambushing here, originally intending to lead 300 cavalry in a sudden charge to capture the outsider invader’s leader when the opponent fled in defeat.
However, the situation was somewhat different from what he had expected.
After the battle, the enemy’s remaining forces were estimated to be over 3,000.
Leading 300 cavalry to charge an army 10 times his size, even a surprise attack would be suicidal.
As an intelligence-type general, Liu Kai would clearly not do such a thing.
Just as he was pondering his next move, the deputy general beside him suddenly let out a cry of surprise.
“General, West Plains City is on fire!”
“What?!”
Liu Kai’s heart jolted upon hearing this.
He quickly turned his head to look in the direction of West Plains City.
Sure enough, thick smoke billowed above West Plains City, and firelight could vaguely be seen rising.
For a moment, every cavalryman in the entire cavalry unit looked at the distant outsider army with full hatred in their eyes.
“They actually set the city on fire? Those damned outsiders!”
“We absolutely cannot let them go!”
“Kill them all! We must kill them all!”
Compared to the already indignant soldiers, Zhang Yan being promoted to deputy general clearly indicated he had his strengths.
At this crucial moment, he managed to keep his composure.
“General, what should we do now?”
“I’ll take 100 cavalry to follow and observe. You take the rest of the men and rush back to West Plains City to assist with firefighting, and at the same time, report our situation to the Leader and the others!”
