Chapter 62: Total Annihilation of the Enemy Force

Princess Ruyue's inner thoughts were exposed, and she muttered with a displeased expression, "How stingy, not letting me do anything at all."

Li Ye paid her no further mind.

He ordered the battle drums to be beaten, launching a fierce assault upon the enemy forces.

The stationed Annan troops had never expected to be ambushed.

Yet, their reaction speed was far from slow.

They quickly fell into formation.

Picking up their weapons, they began to counterattack.

Moreover, occupying the higher ground, they held a distinct tactical advantage.

They seized boulders and rolling logs, hurling them downward.

To halt the advance of the opposing army.

Archers loosed volley after volley of arrows.

The soldiers charging at the very forefront held massive shields.

All incoming enemy arrows were completely deflected by these barriers.

As the tumbling stones and logs reached them, several men drove their shields deep into the earth, interlocking the edges of the shields tightly together.

They braced the barriers firmly with heavy wooden poles held in their hands.

"Clang, clang, clang..."

Boulders and rolling logs crashed against the shields, every single one of them blocked successfully.

These were large-scale shields specifically designed by Li Ye.

At the base of each shield was a sharp blade, driven into the ground to anchor it securely.

A stout wooden prop was then used to brace the back of each shield, creating a low defensive wall once connected end to end.

Even the enemy cavalry would find it difficult to easily leap across this obstacle.

Such an ingenious design opened the eyes of Zhao Wudi and Princess Ruyue once more.

Yet, the actions of the soldiers that followed left them even more profoundly shocked.

The soldiers produced crossbows, resting them atop the shields to take aim at the enemy stone-throwers.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

One rank finished firing, and immediately the second rank of soldiers stepped up.

The soldiers who had discharged their crossbow bolts retreated to reload.

The force behind the crossbow bolts was immense, striking the enemy before they could even react.

Furthermore, the heads of the crossbow bolts featured four distinct blades.

Piercing through an enemy's body, they caused massive hemorrhaging that proved nearly impossible to treat.

In fact, after passing completely through one man's body, a bolt would frequently strike the soldier standing directly behind him.

The enemy fell in swathes, resembling harvested rice.

The surviving enemies dared not rear their heads ever again, pressing themselves flat against the ground or scrambling for cover.

At the command of the officers, all the crossbow-wielding soldiers assembled.

Holding their weapons at a specific angle, they fired skyward in a high arc.

Utilizing the principles of parabolic trajectory, they rained death upon the hidden enemy forces.

The shield-bearing soldiers seized the opportunity to press their advance further.

As long as any enemy dared to show their face, specialized sniper soldiers would immediately cut them down.

These snipers wielded their crossbows with terrifying precision.

A feat truly comparable to piercing a willow leaf at a hundred paces.

The parabolic volley of crossbow bolts likewise eliminated a considerable number of soldiers.

The army advanced step by step, leaving the enemy utterly incapable of mounting a defense.

Realizing they were outmatched, the commanding officer of the Annan garrison understood the dire situation.

He shouted frantic commands in a foreign tongue, ordering his men to fall back immediately.

Simultaneously, he dispatched cavalrymen to report the situation and demand heavy reinforcements from the main army.

Yet, as they scrambled into a panicked retreat, they collided with another force that had circled around to envelop them from the rear.

Enemies meeting on the battlefield harbor an extraordinary hatred, and the two sides immediately clashed in brutal combat.

The defending Annan forces were already outnumbered, and now caught in a pincer movement, they were thrown into chaos.

They were routed in short order.

The surviving soldiers discarded their weapons and squatted on the ground in surrender.

Less than a quarter of an hour had passed since the commencement of the attack, yet all enemy forces had been completely defeated.

Not a single enemy soldier was allowed to escape.

Crucially, the casualties sustained by Dayuan's army were remarkably minimal.

Only seven soldiers died from the blocking force in the rear, with just over a hundred sustaining injuries.

It could be called an unprecedented and magnificent victory.

Zhao Wudi and Princess Ruyue were struck by a deep, lingering sense of shock.

This was the first time they had ever witnessed such a style of warfare.

Every single soldier followed orders with absolute discipline, executing their duties methodically.

Coupled with such formidable weaponry, the enemy was left completely powerless to fight back.

Were these truly old and frail troops?

Even measured against the entire Dayuan Dynasty, they were unquestionably the elite of the elite.

"His Highness commands troops like a god, this Wudi is truly in awe!"

Zhao Wudi could not help exclaiming with a sigh of admiration.

"And you claimed you didn't know how to lead men? There can scarcely be many generals who could match this," Princess Ruyue added closely after.

Her large, beautiful eyes fixed upon Li Ye with keen interest.

Bearing the expression of someone waiting to see how he intended to keep up his disguise.

How could Li Ye ever admit that this was entirely his own achievement?

He smiled and said, "This is entirely due to the proper tactical command of the military officers; I dare not arrogate their merits! At most, I merely fashioned some weaponry for the army according to their specifications. It is the officers who directed the battle properly and the soldiers who fought with valor—they deserve the foremost credit."

Princess Ruyue and Zhao Wudi did not believe a single word of what Li Ye had said.

This was originally a discarded force of old and feeble soldiers.

Had they genuinely possessed such formidable capabilities, they would never have been permitted to retire from service.

Yet under Li Ye's command and training, they had displayed astonishing combat prowess.

While holding the high ground was certainly an advantage, to easily crush three thousand enemy troops with virtually zero casualties of their own was unheard of.

Had any other general been in command, it was doubtful they could have secured such a brilliant and effortless victory.

He ordered the battlefield to be cleared, collecting the enemy armor and anything else that could be salvaged.

In ancient times, any ironwork was considered a precious commodity.

Although the enemy's metallurgy was comparatively crude, melting it down to cast anew would yield a vast array of weapons.

As for the captured prisoners, Li Ye showed no leniency.

Interrogations were conducted immediately after disarming them, and upon failing to extract any useful intelligence, he ordered them executed on the spot.

Keeping these captives alive would not only consume provisions but also require dedicated guards to watch over them.

It would be a pure waste.

Li Ye addressed his men, saying, "I believe all of you saw the places ravaged by the enemy when we first arrived here. Every man, woman, and child was slaughtered by their hands. These creatures are no humans at all; they are mere beasts. Butchering them is how we avenge our people."

"Vengeance! Vengeance..."

The soldiers recalled the miserable state of the common folk, their eyes turning bloodshot with rage.

They wished they could hack at these prisoners a few more times.

Once every single prisoner had been executed.

The soldiers felt a tremendous sense of catharsis, realizing how exhilarating it was to fight alongside Li Ye.

To hell with prisoners of war; anyone who had harmed their people deserved to die.

Given the scorching heat, leaving so many corpses behind would quickly lead to decay and potentially spark a plague.

He ordered the soldiers to gather abundant firewood and thoroughly incinerate the enemy bodies.

With these tasks completed, he finally led the army in retreat.

This resounding victory was not reported to Qin Qingxue, as if the enemy's three thousand garrison troops had never existed at all.

Nor was Li Ye tight-fisted; he distributed the seized wealth among the soldiers.

All the captured grain was brought back as well.

Fires were lit and meals prepared, allowing the soldiers to eat their fill and celebrate the triumph.

The soldiers who had come from Qin Qingxue's command were ecstatic beyond measure.

They gathered in groups, discussing the battle with boundless enthusiasm and high spirits.

"If anyone ever dares to speak ill of His Imperial Highness the Sixth Prince again, I'll be the first one to object!"

"His Highness the Sixth Prince treats the soldiers so well! Fighting under his command is simply a thrill!"

"The Sixth Prince has also given specific orders that those who were injured or died in battle shall receive a greater share of the spoils. Such a generous pension is enough to ensure their families live without worry for the rest of their days. Even laying down one's life on the battlefield is a willing sacrifice."