Chapter 279- Encircling and Entrapping
Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Jun
Not mentioning Shi Wanshui who was in the middle of the chariot circle formation and slaughtering in all four directions, outside of the formation, Baiqi had left the Lang Mountain and personally started to command the troops.
Two hundred thousand troops under Baiqi’s command had broken layer after layer of the chariot circle formation.
After the formation lost its middle command, although it was barely working, it had already lost its spine. It wasn’t as smooth and coordinated and was now just a dead formation.
Comparatively, the Qin army under Baiqi’s lead, be it attacking from the front or the back, coordination between infantry and cavalry, baiting the enemy or attacking upfront, was completely superior.
All these many forms, Baiqi commanded them like they were a whole body, precisely eating away at the Zhao army. The Zhao army was split into a few layers, and their advantage had instantly became their burden.
Zhao Zhuang escaped the burning tower and he tried to reorganize and lead the troops, but unfortunately it was too late.
At the foot of Gu Pass, the shocking battle had entered its crucial stages. Amongst the formation, killing shouts bellowed, and dust and smoke rose.
The paradise in the morning had now became hell on earth.
Within 5 kilometers, the 200 thousand Qin army and the 100 thousand Zhao army were interlaced, red and black mixing together, engaging in slaughter like a drawing of nature.
The land was the sketchpad, the soldiers were the colors, and Baiqi was the artist.
As the battle proceeded, the black color started to gain the upper hand, a black flood split up the red, surrounding them group by group, engaging in cruel encirclement.
Slowly, the red color became thinner and thinner, and the black became the main core. The chaotic red was surrounded in the sea of black as it got pushed around.
Nearing the end of the battle, the chariot circle formation had totally failed and the Zhao army had lost.
Zhao Zhuang was also very decisive. Upon seeing that things weren’t going right, he wanted to save as many as possible. He ordered the troops to retreat and get back to Gu Pass.
Seeing them desert the formation and escaping, Baiqi immediately ordered them to stop chasing.
This large battle could be said to have finally ended.
In the battle report, the Qin army, with a cost of 10 thousand men, broke the formation and killed 30 thousand men, causing the remaining forces to run back to Gu Pass.
After breaking the formation, the grain that the Zhao Army left in the formation was taken by the Qin army.
Baiqi didn’t slack off and ordered them to use the resources in the formation to build a camp right at the base of the Gu Pass, naming it the South Camp and locking off all ways the Zhao Army could go down south.
After the battle, Baiqi moved the base from Lang Mountain to Wang Ling Camp. Meng Ao’s forces who was camped in Wang Ling camp met up with Wang He’s forces and entered the South camp.
As for Huan He’s iron cavalry, they entered the Wang Ling camp, acted as the reserve force, and also protected the grain transport route.
Of the ones who did the most in this fight, the 1000 man strikeforce, in the end only 400 odd men survived. Out of the 700 from the Guards regiment, around 300 survived.
When Shi Wanshui walked out from the formation, he was totally covered with the fresh blood of the enemy, like an Asura that walked out of hell.
The Qin soldiers looked at Shi Wanshui, their eyes filled with respect.
Ouyang Shuo was delighted. Be it the Battle of Zhuolu or the Battle of Muye, and even now in the Battle of Changping, Shi Wanshui could step out at the crucial moment and solve his problems.
Facing off against Chiyou, building the steel defensive line during the Battle of Muye, and now leading the strike force, he was really a war god and a fierce soldier.
Er’Lai upon seeing Shi Wanshui so amazing and so glorious, wanted to find a chance to prove himself. Luo Sha sensed his master’s desire for fighting and growled, “Nian~~”
Ouyang Shuo laughed in amusement and shook his head. Once the chariot circle formation was broken, the whole situation was settled. It was already not far away from the end of the Battle of Changping.
Two things started to happen, so let’s describe one of them first.
As the intense battle occured in Changping Valley, war also started on the northern side.
Zhao Kuo led 150 thousand soldiers from Gu Pass to meet up with the 50 thousand from Hukou Pass. They were like a fiery sea as they charged towards Ying Bao’s camp.
The pressure on the Ying Bao camp grew greatly and they were in a dangerous situation. After a few modifications to the camp, it was an iron fortress, various machines and resources were lined up closely with one another. Ying Bao was also a strong general, leading the troops and chasing them away time after time.
In a moment, although the Zhao Army had an advantage, they couldn’t breach the camp.
The battle to attack the Ying Bao camp became a long battle. Just at this moment, the chariot circle formation was broken and the news of the Zhao Zhuang army losing had spread to Zhao Kuo. It was like thunder on a clear day, blowing all his thoughts and plans apart. Zhao Kuo had never expected that such a formation would be broken so quickly by the Qin army.
The moment the chariot circle formation was broken, this meant that the south side faced the threat of a Qin army attack. With such a situation, how could Zhao Kuo siege Ying Bao’s camp in peace?
He got more bad news. “A bunch of the Qin soldiers went around the Taixing Mountain and entered Hukou Pass. They wanted to take it down while we were attacking. The 10 thousand soldiers defending it have all died.”
Upon hearing that news, his legs crumbled and he couldn’t stay still. His face was ashen white, devoid of any blood, and in his eyes had a look of desperation and loss of hope.
Seeing their general like that, the scout was also nervous. The Zhao army had spent so much effort to overturn the situation, and in this instance, there was a 180 degree change.
If it were others, they wouldn’t be able to accept it immediately. Even more so for Zhao Kuo, who was prideful.
After the Yewang Stronghold was destroyed, the Qing king set up a new army in Henei. This army wasn’t deployed by Baiqi and just asked them to go up north and wait for a chance.
His original plan was to use them to stop all the reinforcements. He didn’t expect the Wei Army to be so weak and be destroyed by the 100 thousand iron cavalry, scaring the other 5 countries so no one sent any reinforcements.
Even so, considering that the Qin army in the Changping war zone was doing okay, Baiqi asked the army to hide.
Based on the way he commanded troops, he still didn’t give up on surrounding the Zhao army. This was the final part of the plan he had set. The Hukou Pass became the best point in Baiqi’s eyes.
As expected, chances were given to people who sought them.
Under Baiqi’s deliberate bait, the young Zhao Kuo couldn’t resist and wanted to destroy Ying Bak’s army and obtain a glorious victory. However he didn’t know that he walked right into a trap.
The war happened as Baiqi had planned. The only exception would be the chariot circle formation which had given him quite a big headache.
Luckily with Ouyang Shuo’s thinking, it was solved and the situation returned to what he had expected. Apart from Baiqi, no one would be able to come up with such a huge plan.
It was because of this that Baiqi had high praise for Ouyang Shuo. If it wasn’t for his plan, Baiqi’s entire plan would’ve gone to waste.
Taking the chance to conquer Hukou Pass, they cut off the grain supply lines of the Zhao army, as well as their only path back to Handan.
“Retreat, go back to Gu Pass!” After keeping quiet for long, Zhao Kuo said softly.
At this crucial moment, Zhao Kuo was still a little rational and didn’t force the attack on Ying Bao camp. The destruction of the formation meant that before the Ying Bao camp would collapse, Gu Pass would first.
At that point, the 200 thousand Zhao army would have no camp to defend and no grain to support them. Thinking about such a situation, Zhao Kuo shivered.
Hence, he needed to rush back to Gu Pass and defend before the Qin army got ready, defending it and hoping that they could hold off until reinforcements arrived. Inside the Gu Pass was also enough grain to use for one month.
As long as the Zhao army defended, the Qin army wouldn’t be able to take down Gu Pass.
After they retreated, Zhao Kuo fell sick and had a high fever, making him unable to think clearly. The Zhao army lost their soul and were now in a desperate situation. They were at the lowest point in their history.
Just at this moment, Zhao Sheng stood out and calmed everyone down.
Learning that Hukou Pass was taken over by the Qin Army, Di Chen and the others were furious. After so many intense battles, there were less than 10 thousand men left in their player camp and couldn’t affect the battle as much. All their plans went up in smoke.
The only thing that they could feel happy was that they successfully recruited two generals. Di Chen rushed to Handan and persuaded Lianpo. Zhan Lang made use of his performance to recruit Zhao Zhuang.
Only Zhao Kuo, although Chun Shenjun triggered his quest, with the current situation, whether he would be able to recruit him was a huge question mark.
The battle was about to end!
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