Chapter Thirty: Perfect Ambush

  The morning light is faint, and dewdrops still cling to the leaves and grass tips.

  Sparrows chirp and tweet, flying about in the woods, practicing the early bird's motto of having food to eat. Occasionally a few little squirrels jump around on the branches, seemingly performing adorable acrobatics.

  Suddenly, the heavy footsteps came, breaking the tranquility of the forest. The birds chirped and fluttered their wings to fly out into the sky, a small squirrel lifted its tiny eyes, quickly jumping between the branches, and in the blink of an eye, it was gone without a trace.

  "Hurry up, we must arrive at Fan County by noon!" An Tong rode his horse ahead, stopping from time to time to wave his arm and shout loudly. The 4,000 Qin soldiers swallowed a few mouthfuls of half-cooked dry rations and hastily set off on the road, already feeling somewhat tired from jogging along the way. But Commander An did not give the order to rest, instead constantly urging them on, so the men could only grit their teeth and continue advancing.

  An Tong and his generals were escorted by their personal guards, riding horses forward. Zhang Bai, who came to report, fell off his horse on one side, although he was skilled in horsemanship, but after a day of galloping back and forth for nearly a hundred miles, he was already exhausted and sweating profusely. It's worth noting that war horses were not equipped with stirrups at this time, and riding a horse was indeed a physically demanding task. Zhang Bai was panting, and the generals under An Tong couldn't help but laugh and tease him.

  "Zhang Bai" did not react, only wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, thinking to himself: Laugh! After laughing, it's time to cry. No! There won't even be a chance to cry. As they journeyed on, "Zhang Bai" remained silent, occasionally looking up to observe the surrounding terrain.

  After passing through a gorge, the terrain suddenly opens up, with low hills on one side and a river with rippling waves on the other. The cool river breeze is refreshing. Everyone has been running for forty or fifty miles, exhausted, sweating profusely, and asking to rest. An Tong couldn't help but agree with his subordinates, frowning tightly: "Alright, let's stop and take a one-hour break!"

  The soldiers, like prisoners pardoned by the emperor, sat down on the ground to rest, and this hard-won rest was all the more precious. Zhang Bai, the county magistrate of Fan County, jumped off his horse, his legs aching, but he didn't sit down, pacing back and forth, exercising his muscles.

  "Zhang Bai" strolled leisurely to the riverbank, a cold smile spreading across his face. He thought to himself: An Tong, you're doomed! You should have stayed hidden, but instead you chose this place, so it's destined to be where you meet your end! Turning back to glance at the scattered Qin soldiers, he leapt forward and plunged into the rippling waves of the river with a splash.

  "What's going on?"

  The people around stared with wide eyes at the splashing water on the river's surface, puzzled. Did Zhang Gongcao jump into the river? Can't stand a few sarcastic remarks? But it seems something is off, only to see a black line straight down to the middle of the river, and in the blink of an eye, it disappeared without a trace.

  An Tong had not yet figured out what was going on when a general by the river shouted loudly: "General, be careful, we've been tricked! This man is a spy!"

  An Tong was shocked and lost his color, exchanging a glance with Xin Gang beside him. He immediately came to his senses. Zhang Gong Cao was a spy, and now he jumped into the river to escape by swimming. So next... They saw endless fear in each other's eyes.

  "Hurry up!"

  "Get ready for battle!"

  Four thousand Qin soldiers were scattered and sat on the narrow riverbank, seeing a commotion in front of them, shouting non-stop, but didn't know what had happened. Moreover, the soldiers were exhausted, having just sat down to rest, their buttocks not yet warm, who would easily get up again.

  An Tong and several generals rushed back and forth, shouting at the soldiers. The big drops of sweat on their foreheads kept falling. The soldiers were confused and reluctantly got up, making a mess on the riverbank road.

  At this moment, a long and mournful horn sounded on the other side of the hill. An Tong and other generals who were organizing their troops felt a sudden jolt in their hearts: "Too late! It's all over!"

  A two-day rain of arrows flew out from the forest on the mountain slope, and the road by the river was narrow, with no place to hide. The Qin army, which was already in disarray, became even more panicked, and those who were hit by arrows and died were too numerous to count.

  Right after that, a team of cavalry rushed out from both sides, with the flags bearing the words "Wu" and "Yin" fluttering high. An Tong had already figured it out - Wu Rui was indeed in cahoots with the bandits, or more accurately, had joined forces with Yin Xu. As for Chen Kui, he might have actually discovered something unusual and made a move to inform on them, but was discovered by Wu Rui, and probably followed the First Emperor underground by now.

  If it's said that Chen Kui and Wu Rui are in cahoots, An Tong doesn't believe it! At this time he is very guilty, just seeing the letter come from Chen Kui's hand, he blindly believed it. His subordinates advised him to calm down, but he was blinded by anger and listened to that "Zhang Bo" one-sided words, so he got angry with Yin Xu again. But times are different now, can he escape this time?

  Yin Xu led the charge, his men following close behind. With a swift motion, he drew his sword and struck down a Qin soldier, beheading him. Behind him were the bandits who had once followed Ying Bu, now rebranded as the Righteous Army - all of them hot-blooded warriors. Having been pursued by the Qin army for months, they had endured humiliation and were now unleashing their pent-up fury, hacking and slashing with abandon, showing no quarter.

  On the other hand, Wu Rui's men were also incredibly brave. Wu Rui was originally a descendant of the royal family of Wu State, and since childhood, his grandfather often told him about the glory of Wu State and the heavy lessons of history. He also learned the military tactics and formations of his ancestors, Wu Qi, who was a renowned military strategist on par with Sun Wu. During the time of Wei Wenhou, he served as the governor of Xirong County and once defeated 100,000 Qin troops with only 50,000 Wei soldiers, causing them to flee in disarray. He had fought in 76 major battles against various lords and won 64 of them, expanding his territory by a thousand miles in all directions.

  Wu Rui was intelligent and studious, diligently learning and often discussing with others to absorb their essence. As he grew older, he led the Wu clan in practicing martial arts and training in battle formations, cultivating a group of skilled warriors. Wu Chen followed closely behind his father, charging out on horseback and inheriting his ancestors' prestige and bravery, pinning down 4,000 Qin soldiers on the narrow riverbank.

  An Tong made several attempts to lead his troops in a breakout, but all were unsuccessful. The narrow road was blocked at both ends by Wu Rui and Yin Xu, and although the Qin army had many soldiers, they could not deploy them effectively, with one man holding off thousands.

  On one side of the hill, Wu Rui's archers and crossbowmen were firing arrows continuously. The armies of Yin and Wu were extremely brave, determined to annihilate the Qin army here, and their offensive did not relax for a moment. Having occupied all the advantageous positions, with many favorable factors influencing the outcome, the situation was completely one-sided. Swords and swords flashed, the Qin army's cries of grief continued, blood splattered everywhere, leaving behind a multitude of corpses. The bloody water flowed into the river, dyeing half of the river surface red.

  In less than an hour, nearly three thousand Qin soldiers had died. Looking at the blood-soaked ground and corpses, then at the dark arrowheads and gleaming sword blades of the rebel army, many Qin soldiers' eyes showed boundless terror.

  Clang!

  It was unclear whose sword fell to the ground first, but immediately afterwards, a loud splash was heard, and a huge wave of water rose up. The first person to eat the crab reminded everyone that there was still a way out - this river of blood. So the sound of weapons falling to the ground continued, and the surface of the river kept splashing with waves, hundreds of Qin soldiers, regardless of whether they could swim or not, under the urging of their will to survive, plunged into the water and swam towards the opposite bank.

  Looking at the struggling Qin soldiers, Yin Xu secretly shook his head and prepared to ambush them here. How could he give them a chance to live? As one by one the Qin army crawled ashore, covered in water, looking at the gleaming sword blades, their hearts full of hope suddenly turned icy cold. Zhou Da and Lu Ming were leading hundreds of men guarding that place.

  At the moment of death, his bodyguards noticed that Zhang Gongcao, who had jumped into the river first, had changed into a set of dry clothes and was sitting on the riverbank resting. From time to time, he let out a big sneeze and said: "Autumn has arrived, the river water is too cold..."

  Zhou Da laughed and said: "I didn't expect Old Gao's swimming skills are actually quite good!"

  "Ah-choo! Growing up by the banks of Poyang Lake, I naturally became familiar with water. Now it's not like it used to be!"

  The news reporter Zhang Gong Cao was naturally a fake, he used to be a knife and pen official in the government office, so he was very familiar with this aspect. Moreover, his appearance was very similar, and he was cautious and stable, so this matter fell on his shoulders.

  However, there was one thing that made everyone worried and anxious. Once they encountered an ambush, the Qin army would inevitably discover Gao Yi's identity as a spy. How could he escape safely? Gao Yi was just a scholar, his martial arts skills were average, and everyone was very worried about this.

  Fortunately, the river was very suitable for swimming, and after discussion, everyone chose to ambush by the river. As a result, Gao Yi only needed to find a way to jump across the river on horseback and swim to the other side, where Lu Ming and others would pick him up. Coincidentally, An Tong happened to choose this place to rest, so Gao Yi was able to leave even more calmly. This battle could be won easily, and his contribution was undeniable.

  An Tong's face was covered in blood, with only a few hundred men left by his side, and more were falling every minute. His heart was trembling, at the beginning of the year when he received the order to eliminate the bandits, he was still rejoicing, thinking that with just over a hundred bandits, they would surely be defeated, and he would gain recognition from Zhao Gao, and his future career would be smooth sailing. But unexpectedly, he was surrounded by over a hundred bandits, constantly losing men and generals, making him lose face greatly, becoming the laughing stock of the army.

  Today, I am filled with indignation and want to take action, but unexpectedly, I was deceived again. The depth is unfathomable, and the consequences will be eternal. An Tong's body trembled violently, if not for Xin Gang's support, he would have fallen long ago.

  "What shall we do, General?"

  "They're killing again!"

  ……

  Listening to the fearful cries of his subordinates, An Tong simply shook his head and said, "Let Xin Gang lead another charge! See if we can break through!"

  "Promise!"

  To the left and right, a dead end. Xin Gang just stopped the remaining horses from making another breakthrough, when he was in a panic. Behind him, with a "pu" sound, turned around to see a long sword stuck between An Tong's neck, fresh blood gushing out, slowly falling to the ground.

  An irresponsible commander died, and until his death, he had not a shred of sense of responsibility. An Tong died, the last vestige of morale in the Qin army was completely destroyed, and breaking out of the encirclement became an empty phrase. Yin Xu and Wu Rui seized the opportunity to lead their men forward and kill.

  The Qin army was like a sheep waiting to be slaughtered, and in an instant, the entire army was annihilated. Xin Gang saw that he had no chance of revenge for the rest of his life. He stared fiercely at Yin Xu, with a heart full of resentment, and killed himself by the side of An Tong.

  The autumn wind blew by, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood. A river of blood flowed slowly, and on the narrow riverbank, thousands of Qin soldiers lost their breath.

  Up to now, the first battle against Qin ended with a perfect ambush!