Luring the enemy deep and dividing them to attack is a good tactic for the relatively weaker side, but if the disparity in strength between the two sides is too great, this tactic becomes ineffective after being used a few times, after all, human stamina has its limits.
After Yun Wenfang and his troops had killed five or six hundred enemies, they themselves had lost nearly half their men. The remaining half were either injured or utterly exhausted, and in the end, they were cornered by the imperial forces in a forest. If not for the cover of this vast expanse of trees and their familiarity with the terrain, they would likely have been completely annihilated.
Upon entering the forest, they had already abandoned their horses.
Yun Wenfang had been struck by an arrow in his left shoulder blade, and his abdomen was deeply wounded by a sharp blade. The excessive blood loss left his face extremely pale. At that moment, he leaned against a tree, his expression unusually calm as he allowed his subordinate to bandage the wound on his abdomen. After the subordinate had roughly treated the large abdominal wound and was about to attend to the arrow wound on his back, Yun Wenfang raised a hand to stop him.
"Leave it for now. Go check on the others."
The subordinate glanced at the wound where the arrowhead remained embedded in his body after the shaft had been cut off, wanting to say something more, but Yun Wenfang had already closed his eyes coldly. In the end, the subordinate dared not disobey the order and withdrew to attend to the other wounded.
The steady young man who had been fighting alongside Yun Wenfang walked over with slightly heavy steps: "General, we have sixty-eight men left, and more than ten are severely wounded, likely..."
He gritted his teeth, his eyes reddening as he lowered his head. Though from the day they became soldiers, they were prepared to die on the battlefield, these men were brothers who had fought alongside them through blood and fire. They had survived countless dangers together at the border, only to die at the hands of their own people. In their hearts, there was inevitably some resentment and anger.
Yun Wenfang opened his eyes and looked at the soldiers gathered around him, some sitting, some standing. His cold gaze finally flickered with a hint of emotion, and he said in a hoarse voice, "I have failed you."
Hearing this, the young man nearly shed tears, quickly suppressing a sob as he said, "General, what are you saying? If not for you blocking that blade for me earlier, how could I still be standing here? Besides, as soldiers of the Yanbei Army, protecting the people and the Yanbei Prince's Mansion is our duty. Why should you take the blame upon yourself? We all followed you willingly. If we can help the people of Yunyang City survive until reinforcements arrive, then like you, General, we would not hesitate to die ten thousand deaths."
Yun Wenfang tugged at the corner of his mouth, revealing a weary and mocking smile. "I am not as brave and selfless as you think. I just..."
Just what? Yun Wenfang's gaze grew somewhat distant.
He felt that he had gone out to face the enemy only to protect those he wanted to protect, to ensure her safety, so she would not meet a tragic end as in his dreams. He never considered himself a man of great magnanimity; even if the Yanbei Prince's Mansion were to fall before his eyes, he would not feel much sorrow—he might even secretly rejoice. Everything he did was simply in accordance with his own heart.Yet, looking at the youthful faces around him—these subordinates who had fought alongside him through life and death and placed their complete trust in him—Yun Wenfang ultimately could not bring himself to utter that "but." Although he had never cared about how others perceived him, in this moment, Yun Wenfang chose silence.
Just then, a slight commotion arose among those standing on the outskirts. The young man beside Yun Wenfang was about to demand an explanation when someone hurried over and reported, "General, smoke is rising ahead. It seems those cowards dare not confront us in the forest, so they’ve set a fire to force us out."
Yun Wenfang now caught the scent of smoke and faintly glimpsed the flames. Fortunately, the wind direction was not yet blowing toward them, or they would have been in for a rough time.
The steady young man went to investigate and soon returned, his expression grim. "These people are utterly despicable! If they had any courage, they’d face us in a real fight."
Yun Wenfang smiled coldly. "Using a little trickery in a life-or-death struggle is hardly surprising. Besides, we’ve killed so many of their men. Did you expect them to treat us with courtesy?"
Though the young man’s expression remained dark, he said nothing more.
"General, what do we do now?" another subordinate asked anxiously, eyeing the thickening smoke in the distance. "The wind is still blowing from the southwest, but it may shift soon."
Yun Wenfang stared at the distant smoke for a moment, then stretched lazily, wearing his usual indolent smile. As he moved, the arrow wound on his back reopened, and fresh blood seeped through the bandages on his abdomen. Yet Yun Wenfang seemed oblivious to the pain.
He glanced around and chuckled, "Men, are you willing to be smoked out like turtles, covered in soot, and forced to crawl out on your own?"
"No!" The remaining few dozen men, most of them wounded, roared the word with undiminished vigor.
Yun Wenfang picked up his sword, lightly flicking the blade with a bent finger. "Then how about we fight our way out?"
As soon as he spoke, those who had been sitting or leaning on the ground rose to their feet. Whether severely or lightly wounded, all who could still move took up their weapons and shouted with deadly resolve, "Fight our way out!"
"Fight our way out!"
"Fight our way out!"
For a moment, the forest echoed with these fierce, bloodthirsty cries.
Yun Wenfang slowly allowed a smile to spread across his face—a smile tinged with relief.
The odds were overwhelmingly against them, and they all knew they might meet their end here today. Yet no one retreated. Yun Wenfang’s heart swelled with a sense of valor he had never truly experienced before. For some reason, he suddenly felt ashamed of his past self. Standing here now, hearing the voices of true men, he finally understood something.
Even now, he did not regret loving a woman who was never meant to be his, nor did he intend to let his heart yield. He simply felt that perhaps he had never truly been a real man before, which was why the one person he had ever held dear in his life had never looked upon him with favor.
Though his realization seemed to have come too late.Yun Wenfang closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, there was no trace of weakness in his gaze. The fierce, battle-hardened aura honed on the battlefield emanated from him, his eyes sharp and resolute.
"Men, follow me and kill—"
With a roar, Yun Wenfang charged forward, sword in hand. The steady young man who had always followed him immediately fell in behind, with the others close on their heels.
Those who had been setting fires all around seemed not to have expected these Yanbei Army soldiers, already pushed to the brink, to charge out. They had long been terrified by the previous battles—these Yanbei soldiers, if not one against ten, were each fiercely courageous. Even two or three of them attacking one might not guarantee victory, so despite knowing the Yanbei soldiers were at the end of their strength, they dared not risk entering the woods.
Thus, when the battle cries rang out, most of the imperial soldiers chose to drop their torches and retreat. But for Yun Wenfang and his men, this battle was likely the last of their lives. Naturally, they intended to fight with all their might—how could they allow the enemy to flee the battlefield?
These exhausted or severely wounded Yanbei soldiers, like beasts unleashed from a cage, laughed wildly as they pursued the enemy.
It was a strange confrontation: the fewer, more wounded side chased and slaughtered the larger, less wounded side, yet it was the latter who should have held the advantage that trembled in fear, retreating step by step.
In the end, it was the Yanbei soldiers themselves who exhausted their last ounce of strength, falling one by one—though each took at least two more enemies with them in death.
Yun Wenfang had always charged at the forefront—this was his consistent style and the reason he had been able to gather such loyal subordinates at such a young age.
But now, he felt his strength slowly fading, his body growing colder, and his vision beginning to blur.
Last night, I couldn’t make it back in time to update, so I had to grab a reader from the group to post a leave notice in the review section for me. I wonder if everyone saw it... 〒_〒.
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