To deal with unexpected situations, Sangji had not committed all his troops to the front line. He kept five hundred men back as a reserve emergency battalion.
If an attack came from another direction, these five hundred could plug the gap.
The hundred-man commander named Ada received the order and immediately pulled three hundred from the reserve to intercept Monkey, Big Zhuang, and their men.
In Sangji’s view, and indeed in the eyes of all his officers and men, Great Kang soldiers were nothing but rookies and weaklings. Monkey and Big Zhuang together only had a few hundred people. Three hundred Tubo warriors would be more than enough.
The ordinary Tubo soldiers felt the same. They did not take the newcomers seriously at all and assembled in a rather casual manner.
By the time they formed up, Monkey and Big Zhuang had already reached halfway up the slope.
“Brothers, we’ve watched the show long enough. Now it’s our turn!”
Hundred-man commander Ada shouted, “General Sangji is watching you. Make it look good!”
“Don’t worry, sir. Just a few hundred Great Kang men. Not even enough for an appetiser!”
“Yes, two charges at most and they’re finished!”
The reserve troops remained cocky.
“Pay attention! Meng Tianhai sent them, so they must have something up their sleeves. We’ve spent our lives on horseback. Don’t let a horse’s hoof step on your foot!”
Ada drew his sword and bellowed, “First company left, second company right! Wipe them out!”
“Wipe them out!”
Though they were reserves, every man was a veteran, and their combat strength stood above the Tubo army average.
Otherwise Sangji would never have kept them as his emergency force.
The moment they drew their blades, the smiles vanished from the veterans’ faces. They charged down toward the escorts on the hillside.
When the two sides were still a dozen zhang apart, Monkey and Big Zhuang raised their right hands at the same instant.
The male escorts at the front immediately raised both arms, bent their knees, and braced for impact.
Their bodies dropped half a crouch, exposing the female soldiers behind them who were levelling crossbows.
“Fire!”
Monkey and Big Zhuang dropped their hands together.
The women pulled the triggers without hesitation.
Arrows whistled over the men’s heads straight at the Tubo soldiers.
The Tubo troops were ready and instantly raised their shields.
Their shields, however, were only the size of washbasins. Even crouching, they could protect only the upper body. Legs remained completely exposed.
Every arrow from the women was aimed at the lower half.
The Tubo ranks were packed tight. There was no need to aim. Dozens of men were instantly hit in the calves and crashed to the ground.
Running downhill at full speed, once they fell they could not stop. They rolled helplessly downward.
By the time they tumbled to the escort line, they were dazed and confused, easy meat for the escorts’ blades.
The female escorts trained daily with crossbows. They reloaded with astonishing speed. As soon as the men finished off the first wave, the women’s second volley was already flying.
Another several dozen Tubo soldiers tumbled down.
Two volleys alone had cost the three hundred Tubo troops nearly a third of their number.
Their downhill momentum was drastically slowed.
Without the force of the charge, the Tubo soldiers could not break the escort shield wall.
Then came the melee.
This was where the plate armour shone.
The escorts were encased head to toe in black plate, even their hands protected. They were walking iron lumps. Tubo blades could not bite.
The escorts had no need to defend. Every ounce of attention went into killing. With the women supporting from behind and outnumbering the enemy, the outcome was obvious.
From the moment the three hundred reserves charged downhill until the last man fell, less than five minutes had passed.
At the summit, both Sangji and his deputy were stunned by the escorts’ fighting power.
“Black armour, black blades, black banners. Cedain wasn’t lying. Great Kang really does have elite troops like these!”
Sangji stared wide-eyed. “Even the Zanpu’s own bodyguard might not be their match!”
“General, they’re heading straight for you. We should withdraw!” the deputy urged anxiously.
“If I withdraw, the army’s morale collapses! And where would I withdraw to? Abandon Duckbill Ridge?”
Sangji snapped coldly, “Order the Fourth Banner to hold fast. Bring the Fifth Banner back. No matter the cost, kill them!”
In his view, these few hundred black-armoured troops posed a far greater threat than the entire Iron Tiger Battalion.
They had to be eliminated.
“Yes, sir!”
The deputy immediately had the signal flags waved, recalling the Fifth Banner to reinforce.
On the western slope, Chen Rui had taken another cut to the leg and was now surrounded by two Tubo soldiers. He was on the verge of collapse when the deep blast of a horn sounded from the summit.
The enemies in front of him suddenly retreated like a receding tide.
Chen Rui leaned on his knee, panting heavily, and looked toward the retreating foes.
On the southern slope, two fresh formations had appeared at some point and were charging rapidly toward Sangji’s command banner atop the ridge.
Behind them lay a carpet of corpses.
Every corpse wore Tubo clothing.
Sangji now had only two banners left in total. He had already detached one banner to block the escorts, so fewer than a thousand men remained defending the west.
Pressure on the Iron Tiger Battalion suddenly eased. The verge-of-collapse situation stabilised in an instant.
Not only Chen Rui, but many soldiers lifted their heads to watch the southern slope.
Chen Fengzhi included.
“General, are those our reinforcements?”
The deputy limped to Chen Fengzhi’s side. “What unit are they? I don’t recognise their banner.”
“I don’t know either,” Chen Fengzhi shook his head. “But anyone fighting Tubo on our behalf must be reinforcements. Probably the princess’s palace guard.”
“Sir, they’re from the Zhenyuan Escort Agency.”
One of the personal guards spoke up. “I saw that banner in the city before. It has the characters ‘Zhenyuan’ embroidered on it. There was no wind just now, so the writing wasn’t visible. In town they don’t wear armour, just black escort uniforms.”
As he finished speaking, the flag-bearer seemed to stumble. The banner fluttered.
When it unfurled, the characters Zhenyuan were clearly visible.
“Rumour has it that Master Jin of the Zhenyuan Escort Agency and Marquis Qing of Jinchuan are both brilliant commanders. The rumours were true!”
Chen Fengzhi said excitedly, “Look at how fast and orderly those two formations move. They’re nothing like ordinary soldiers!”
“There are only four or five hundred of them. Sangji sent a whole banner to surround them. Can they hold?” the deputy asked worriedly.
“That’s exactly why we must force Sangji to pull more men back!” Chen Fengzhi roared. “Beat the drums! Seize the chance our reinforcements have given us. Take Duckbill Ridge now!”
At the rear, Meng Tianhai spotted the battlefield shift at once. Like Chen Fengzhi, he seized the moment and launched an all-out assault.
With Meng Tianhai’s order, two more armies surged forward from left and right, completely encircling Duckbill Ridge.
At that moment, the Fifth Banner withdrew and placed itself between the escorts and Sangji.
“Brothers, time to get serious. Let’s show these Tubo dogs what we’re made of!”
Big Zhuang and Monkey grinned broadly at the same time and signalled to the troops behind them.
