The escort masters had suffered too many casualties this time. Zhang Liang had originally not wanted to send the black armour team into battle again.
Yet the Qingyuan Army and the others were truly too disappointing. If the fighting continued, Zhang Liang began to worry that a rout might occur.
Though the possibility was small, if it really happened, the consequences would be too severe.
Routed soldiers lost all reason and would no longer obey commands. They would only swarm about like headless flies.
There would be no expecting them to defend Great Python Slope.
If Danzhu seized the moment to launch a counterattack on Great Python Slope, not only would all previous sacrifices be in vain, but Jin Feng and the Ninth Princess might not even have time to withdraw.
In fact, yesterday’s battle had been extremely dangerous.
At that time, the escorts’ hand grenades were almost depleted. If Danzhu had delayed his withdrawal order by just a few minutes, Great Python Slope might have been overrun.
Zhang Liang had no obligation to train troops for Qing Xinyao. Discovering this potential risk, after much deliberation, he finally decided to deploy the black armour team to end the battle quickly.
He truly dared not gamble with the safety of Jin Feng and the Ninth Princess.
As the black armour team set out, Jin Feng also had Da Liu arrange carriages to be ready at any moment.
He had developed the same concern as Zhang Liang.
Yesterday had been so perilous, yet he had emerged unscathed. If he fell today, it would be too unjust.
Da Zhuang and Monkey led the black armour team to the front line. They did not deliberately select weak points in the battlefield, but immediately sought out Danzhu’s command flag.
Confirming the position of the command flag, they charged directly towards the position closest to Danzhu.
The defensive works of the Tubo camp also consisted mainly of trenches and earthen walls, only the trenches were deeper than those at Great Python Slope, the walls higher, and packed more solidly.
The main reason the Dakang army had not yet captured the Tubo camp was precisely these trenches and walls.
Among the Tubo soldiers participating in the defence, many had escaped back from the ambush on the black armour team.
Seeing the black armour team, they instinctively felt fear.
They dreaded that the black armour team would throw hand grenades at them again.
As feared, when the black armour team reached outside the trench, they had no intention of a direct assault. Instead, they immediately threw two hand grenades in.
With two massive explosions, more than half the Tubo soldiers behind the earthen wall were killed or wounded.
The remaining half were dazed and dizzy from the shock.
Seizing this opportunity, the escorts pulled out pre-prepared wooden planks and laid them across the wall.
By the time the Tubo soldiers came to their senses, the first batch of escorts had already leaped down from the wall.
Danzhu immediately organised large numbers of men to drive the black armour team out of the position.
Yet dozens of black-armoured escorts formed a human wall. The Tubo soldiers could not overcome them and were instead killed, retreating step by step.
Before the second wave of reinforcements arrived, all the escorts had crossed the trench, quickly forming a triangular battle array and charging straight for Danzhu’s command flag.
“They actually intend to capture the commander?”
Danzhu was so angered that he laughed. “Does the black armour team truly believe itself invincible under heaven?”
Capturing the commander in the enemy camp referred to, during a battle between two armies before victory was decided, an individual or unit forcing their way through the enemy formation to successfully kill the opposing commander.
That was something that only happened in legends.
Danzhu had fought battles his entire life and had never encountered it once.
Yet in the final battle of his life, he did.
Tragically, he was the target of the capture.
This infuriated Danzhu, making him feel humiliated by the black armour team.
He immediately drew men from various positions to encircle and attack the black armour team.
Since he was doomed to die in Dakang, Danzhu decided that even if it meant piling bodies, he would bury the black armour team alive.
Yet the black armour team still had hand grenades left from yesterday. Human wave tactics posed little threat to them.
Whenever too many gathered around, the female soldiers would immediately throw grenades, blasting large groups to death.
When numbers were few, they could not halt the black armour team’s advance.
Danzhu could only continually send more men, hoping to exhaust the black armour team’s grenades.
The black armour team was like water buffalo walking through mud. Though extremely slow, they advanced with firm determination, never stopping.
Danzhu’s watchtower was about a hundred zhang from the trench. By now, the black armour team had covered around twenty zhang.
The twenty zhang behind them were almost paved with corpses.
Yet under Danzhu’s intense pressure, soldiers continued to surge forward.
The total number of soldiers was limited. By drawing men to block the black armour team, the defences at the trench became weaker.
Zhang Liang immediately ordered the other units to speed up their attacks.
Though furious, Danzhu ultimately did not lose his reason.
Drawing more from the front line would cause it to collapse.
Once the front collapsed, large numbers of Dakang soldiers would flood into the camp to assist the black armour team.
That would make things even worse.
Danzhu had no choice but to stop pulling men from the front.
The pressure on the black armour team immediately eased considerably.
Many Tubo soldiers saw no hope of victory and gradually became passive in combat.
Da Zhuang seized the opportunity to slaughter wildly.
Fewer and fewer enemies surrounded the black armour team, and their speed increased.
Danzhu realised sorrowfully that, let alone burying the black armour team in bodies, he could now scarcely draw men to block them. He could only watch helplessly as the black armour team drew ever closer to the watchtower.
The various lines, depleted of men, were on the verge of collapse at any moment.
Danzhu knew the overall situation was decided. Further efforts were futile. He simply had the flag bearer order all positions to fight independently, then led his personal guard unit in leaping down from the watchtower.
“Black armour team, since you wish to capture the commander, I shall oblige you!”
Danzhu crouched slightly, holding his battle sword horizontally before him. “Come then. Let me see just how formidable the black armour team truly is!”
His ten bodyguards also drew their swords, forming a protective arc on his flanks.
They all prepared for battle, yet saw a hand grenade fly towards them from the black armour team.
“You fight without honour!”
Danzhu’s pupils contracted. Instinctively, he turned and ran.
But no matter how fast he ran, how could he outrun an explosion?
With two massive blasts, Danzhu felt himself lifted into the air.
A burning pain seared his back, and his abdomen churned violently. Clearly, his internal organs were injured.
His bodyguards were either dead or wounded. Not one could stand.
“Did he just say we fight without honour?”
Da Zhuang turned to Monkey.
“No, he said we did very well!”
Monkey stepped forward twice, stabbed his knife into Danzhu’s neck, and sneered, “This fellow is a general? Did he think war is a江湖 duel? Honour indeed!”
“Enough, stop messing around. Quickly cut down the flag!”
Da Zhuang instructed.
Monkey nodded, leading several escorts up the watchtower. They killed the flag bearer and chopped down Danzhu’s great banner.
When the Tubo soldiers saw the command flag fall, their morale collapsed completely.
They either resisted passively and were killed, or directly surrendered.
Thus, the war between Tubo and Dakang came to a thorough end!
…
In the following days, the Ninth Princess and Qing Xinyao were occupied with postwar arrangements.
Jin Feng, as he had wished, obtained war horses.
The war horses the Ninth Princess purchased from the common people numbered fewer than eight thousand. By agreement, Jin Feng should receive eight hundred.
Yet the Ninth Princess was very generous, rounding it up to a whole number and giving Jin Feng one thousand.
This delighted Jin Feng immensely.
However, he had not been happy for two days when trouble arrived.
That day, Jin Feng was in the main camp discussing matters with the Ninth Princess when Da Liu came running in haste.
“Sir, bad news! A general named Xue Henglu has arrived. He says their army has an urgent mission and wants to requisition our war horses!”
