At the very start of the battle, the Tubo side was ambushed by the Black Armour Team with flash grenades, which immediately claimed nearly a thousand lives.
The blow to morale was already severe.
Yet under the commander’s harsh orders, the soldiers could only steel themselves and press the attack.
Now, however, even the flag commander in charge was stunned into silence.
The battlefield fell quiet in an instant.
When Jin Feng had tested hand grenades at the rear hill of Xihe Bay, Zhang Liang and A Pei had witnessed them and reacted first.
“Charge!”
Seizing the moment while the enemy was dazed, Zhang Liang ordered the Black Armour Team to launch a full assault.
Discovering that their side possessed such powerful weapons, the Black Armour Team’s morale soared.
On the Tubo side, morale plummeted, and they completely lost their earlier ferocity.
The flag commander was terrified inside, but seeing the Black Armour Team about to break out of the encirclement, and remembering Danzhu’s instructions before departure, he gritted his teeth and issued the order for a fierce attack.
To restore morale, he ordered the flag bearer to signal while leading his personal guard to the front.
With the flag commander personally joining the fight, the centurions naturally had to follow.
When the centurions advanced, the squad leaders dared not retreat.
The Black Armour Team was on the verge of breaking out, only to be blocked again by the flag commander and his men.
This time, the flag commander issued a death order: retreat meant execution.
Under the pressure of life and death, the Tubo soldiers attacked even more frantically than before.
Seeing too many enemies ahead, A Pei quickly lit another hand grenade and threw it.
Boom!
A dense crowd was immediately blasted apart.
The pressure on the escorts eased at once, allowing them to push forward a significant distance.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosions of hand grenades rang out one after another.
The Tubo flag commander felt utterly frustrated.
With fewer men, they could not stop the Black Armour Team, yet whenever numbers increased, A Pei would hurl a hand grenade into the crowd.
Tubo casualties mounted rapidly.
But the flag commander had no choice but to persist with the attack.
…
At the foot of Great Python Slope, after much deliberation, Danzhu made the same decision as the flag commander.
Woo-woo! Woo-woo-woo!
The horn sounds grew urgent and stirring, while the flag bearer waved the banner vigorously.
On the battlefield, every soldier’s face changed dramatically.
This was the highest-level attack order.
Advance only, no retreat, or face immediate execution, with families later punished and hanged.
To avoid implicating their families, Tubo soldiers who had already considered retreating could only muster their final courage and charge Great Python Slope once more.
On one side was fear of the heavenly god, on the other Danzhu’s death command.
Many Tubo soldiers were nearly driven mad.
Yet they did not choose to flee, instead opting for an even fiercer charge.
By now, they no longer cared about victory or defeat, only seeking an outcome.
In an instant, pressure multiplied not just on Position Three, but across all positions.
Casualties rose swiftly on both the Weisheng Army and Tubo sides.
Zhou Jin’er and her female medics were nearly exhausted, yet the wounded kept being carried back in ever greater numbers!
“This is bad!”
Jin Feng’s eyelid twitched as he waved frantically towards the mountain top.
Qin’er saw it and quickly signalled to the Ninth Princess.
The Ninth Princess continued drumming while looking down.
Drumming without pause for so long had long since made her arms sore and painful.
But understanding Jin Feng’s intent, she immediately gritted her teeth and increased the drumming pace.
She struck even harder.
The drumbeats instantly became urgent and uplifting.
The Weisheng Army’s morale rose accordingly.
“Brothers, hold on! If we endure this wave, victory is ours!”
Meng Tianhai used his metal megaphone to rally the Weisheng warriors everywhere.
At the mountain top, Qing Muluan ignored A Mei’s attempts to stop her and led her personal guard to the fiercest fighting at Position Three.
Passing Jin Feng, Qing Muluan expected him to block her, but he did not.
He merely cautioned “Be careful” and let her pass.
After she left, Jin Feng kept only Da Liu with him and dispatched the rest of his guard, carrying crates of hand grenades to reinforce various positions.
Soon, explosions echoed across all positions on Great Python Slope.
Blasts of flame sent tumbling Tubo soldiers skyward.
Both sides were now completely frenzied.
Near the trenches, blood flowed like rivers, corpses piled like mountains.
Especially at Position Three, in just minutes, Tubo soldiers breached it four times.
Each time, they were driven back by the combined efforts of Weisheng Army and escorts.
“I’ll take you with me!”
Jin Feng’s guard squad leader, seeing ever more enemies and eyes bloodshot, lit three hand grenades at once and threw them beyond the earth wall.
Boom!
The largest explosion since the battle began occurred.
This time, it was not just flames, but a small mushroom cloud formed.
In front of Position Three, corpses piled higher than the wall were blasted into a massive crater.
A rain of blood fell from the sky, drenching nearby soldiers.
Soldiers on both sides looked like demons, covered in gore.
Yet their mindsets differed utterly.
Weisheng Army and escorts roared excitedly with open mouths, growing braver with each fight.
The last shred of courage in Tubo soldiers was shattered by those three grenades.
Fearing Danzhu’s orders yet daring not retreat, they simply resisted passively and were slain by Weisheng Army and escorts.
In this way, they counted as dying in battle, sparing their families Danzhu’s retribution.
Emotions on the battlefield are contagious.
The excited side grew more excited, the passive side more passive.
At the rear of the great formation, Danzhu’s face paled as he collapsed to the ground.
Moments later, he weakly waved to the messenger: “Sound the gong to withdraw!”
He knew the tide had turned irretrievably.
Further fighting would only add pointless casualties.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The gong resounded across the battlefield.
To Tubo soldiers, it sounded like heavenly music.
At last, they could retreat.
True to seasoned veterans, even now Tubo soldiers showed no rout.
Instead, they cooperated mutually, withdrawing in good order.
Jin Feng had considered pursuing victory, but seeing this, he abandoned the idea and ordered defence in place, lest Danzhu launch a counterattack.
His caution proved unnecessary, as the Tubo army retreated straight to camp.
“We won!”
“I bloody won!”
“Long live the Ninth Princess!”
“Weisheng Army is mighty!”
“Zhenyuan Escort Bureau is mighty!”
“Mr Jin is mighty!”
At the foot of Great Python Slope, countless soldiers raised their swords and cheered wildly.
Though the battle had been brutal and hard-fought, they had won!
Without help from the Black Armour Team, even with Iron Tiger Camp absent.
The Weisheng Army had faced Tubo elites blade to blade and prevailed!
Many soldiers shouted until tears streamed down.
This battle was the largest in scale between Tubo and Dakang in a century, worthy of recording in history!
Some soldiers, exhausted from cheering, simply lay on the ground, gasping heavily.
They were utterly spent; a breath held during battle now released, leaving them unable to stand.
A few gravely wounded lay down and never rose again.
At the mountain top, the Ninth Princess could not contain her excitement and pounded the war drum furiously, venting her thrill!
Jin Feng, at the mountainside, let out a long breath, greatly relieved!
No one knew better than he how many hand grenades remained.
Had Danzhu persisted a little longer, they might have run out.
Then Great Python Slope could have fallen.
“Pass the order: treat the wounded as quickly as possible! Do not relax defence, remain alert for Danzhu’s counterattack! Also, send men to tally battle losses at once!”
