Chapter 35: Forgetting Selfishness (II)

One battle can take down a city; another can take down a nation!
This battle was not for themselves, but for the Tang Dynasty, for the homeland of every Tang person!
Under Li Kuo’s command, the soldiers of the First Shock Troop quickly rushed up the slope toward the wooden fences. Once they crossed this obstacle, they could firmly control this defensive line.
“Charge forward! Kill them all! For the Tang Dynasty!”
The soldiers at the front swiftly and nimbly crossed the wooden fences and engaged the rebels in close combat.
“Stop them! Stop them! Pierce them to death! Charge ahead and kill all these Tang invaders!”
A rebel general was shocked to see the Tang army manage to climb onto the slope. With fewer troops than the Tangs and now without the advantage of terrain, the consequences of failing to suppress the Tangs’ momentum would be disastrous.
A group of spearmen, following their commander’s orders, immediately stepped forward with their weapons, thrusting at the advancing Tang soldiers.
The advantage of spears lay in their length, allowing them to kill enemies before they could get close. But their weakness was obvious—lack of flexibility! The soldiers of the First Shock Troop were elite troops from the Jianghuai region, with extensive combat experience. Seeing the enemy advancing to block them, they remained calm. Instead, they grouped together, using their shields to protect Li Kuo as they charged at the spearmen.
The Tangs did not retreat but pressed forward!
In chaos, the rebels’ momentum slowed significantly. The psychological advantage gained from the length of their weapons vanished in the face of the shield wall. Under Li Kuo’s leadership, the army pierced like a sharp arrow into the heart of the rebels.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The spearheads struck the wooden shields, deflecting to the sides. From this angle, the spearmen could cause no harm to the Tangs. On the contrary, as the Tangs grouped together, the numerous spearmen collided with each other, causing chaos.
“Charge forward! Kill them all! For the Tang Dynasty!”
Seeing the moment was ripe, Li Kuo roared and sped forward even faster.
“Protect the commander! Kill the enemy leader! Show our might!”
“Kill the enemy leader! Show our might!”
“Kill the enemy leader! Show our might!”
Li Kuo’s personal guards shouted encouragement for their general, creating a formidable atmosphere.
With this sudden surge, they swept aside all obstacles in their path.
The guards had created the best opportunity for themselves!
Li Kuo took a deep breath, stepped forward, and leaped into the air!
Li Kuo drew his sword!

The slash was like a dragon emerging from the sea; he paused slightly mid-air before sweeping his sword in a full circle, aiming at the neck of a rebel general. The rebel general instinctively raised his sword to block, but in the blink of an eye, Li Kuo roared and charged forward. “Charge!” With a loud shout, his great black sword severed the rebel’s sword and plunged deep into the general’s neck. The blade cut through flesh and bone. A gush of blood sprayed into the air, followed by the flying of a huge head. In an instant, Li Kuo had slain an enemy general, greatly boosting the morale of the Tang troops, who became fiercely enthusiastic. “Kill! Kill! Kill!” “Kill! Kill! Kill!” Under Li Kuo’s leadership, the Tang generals led by Wang Xiaochun swung their swords at the nearby rebel soldiers. These rebels were stunned to see their commander killed by Li Kuo; in no time, the Tang troops gained the upper hand, slaughtering many enemies amidst chaos and bloodshed. Countless rebels were killed by swords, spears, or trampled to death… With their general slain, the rebels were in disarray, and the battle was no longer uncertain. Facing the fleeing rebels, the soldiers of the First Vanguard Camp simply raised their steel swords high, cutting down all evil and darkness in their path… Li Kuo sat alone beside a mound of earth, wiping the blood from the scabbard of his great black sword. This sword had been with him for years, and he had maintained a habit: no matter how many people he killed in battle, he would wipe the blood from the scabbard with pure white silk afterward. It wasn’t out of guilt, but because he didn’t want his past achievements to make him complacent. On the battlefield, every moment determined life and death. No one would show mercy just because you were the general who killed the most enemies, nor would anyone spare you because of your skill with the sword. On the battlefield, it was either you died or I died. Thus, Li Kuo treated every confrontation as if it were the first and every kill as if it were the first as well. That’s why he never allowed blood to stain his blade—he treated every killing as if it were the first time. It was this sense of reverence that enabled Li Kuo to remain invincible, repeatedly taking enemy generals’ heads in the midst of chaos. “Qilang, still not resting?” Zhou Wucui walked over to the campfire and sat down without bothering to tidy himself. “Mm,” Li Kuo replied softly, continuing to wipe his great black sword.

The autumn nights were somewhat chilly, especially when the north wind blew. Li Kuo instinctively moved closer to the fire to warm himself.
“I really didn’t expect the rebels at the first line of defense to be so weak!”
Zhou Wucui helplessly shrugged and said, “If we had known it would be like this, there would have been no need for you to lead the troops personally. We could have just sent Yu Cheng with his men to charge. That way, the first assault unit could save some energy.”
There was some truth to his words. After all, Li Kuo had divided the entire army into four assault units in the hope that everyone could maximize their potential on the battlefield. Li Kuo had already led the first assault unit to capture the defenses on the slope plain. Now, with the rotation, it was naturally the turn of the second assault unit to charge first.
But if the sharpest spear was used like this, what would they do if they encountered a formidable enemy next?
“Go to sleep. If Brother Dou and the others are successful, it will be your turn to take over early tomorrow.”
Li Kuo sheathed his sword, its sharp edge hidden in the darkness of the night. …
In the middle of the night, no one could sleep.
Dou Qing led the soldiers of the second assault unit, standing on one side of the dried-up river, gazing at the rebel camp across the river.
Earlier, the commander had already led his troops to capture the first line of defense set up by the rebels in Qinglang Valley, and they were now taking turns to rest. At this moment, he had to capture this second line of defense as soon as possible so that he could join forces with his comrades at sunrise the next day.
Attacking at different times might be the best option.
Right now, what they lacked the most was time, and attacking at different times could just make up for that deficiency.
With the faint light from the torches, Dou Qing could clearly see the military flags fluttering in the wind inside the rebel camp. But instead of the characters of the Tang Dynasty, they bore a striking character: Yan.
How could the land of the Tang Dynasty allow barbarians to act arrogantly?
A few years earlier, Dou Qing might have directly led his men to “cross the river” and fight the rebels head-on, but now he wouldn’t do that.
Putting the overall situation first—this was the most valuable quality he had learned from his commander.
“General Dou, the scouts have already checked. This dried-up river is too narrow. If we try to cross forcefully, there won’t be much space to stand on. At most, three people can walk side by side.”
A scout rushed over from the side of the river, bowing to Dou Qing.
Dou Qing frowned slightly and asked doubtfully, “If that’s the case, how long will it take us to cross the river? Is there no other way?”
The danger of this dried-up river lay in its lack of water. With no water and only sharp stones in the riverbed, stepping in recklessly would likely result in severe injuries from the stones.

The scout pondered for a moment before saying, “There is a way, but it will require a longer route.”
Dou Qing firmly refused, “No! We’re in a hurry right now. Otherwise, the commander wouldn’t have rushed into Qinglang Valley. Pass my orders—have the men throw the food sacks on their horses into the dried-up river!”
These words caused a great stir among the troops. General Dou wanted to use food sacks to fill the dried-up river! The idea was utterly bizarre and hard to accept at first.
Those were the rations meant to last them ten days—wasn’t it absurd to use them as sandbags?
Seeing the chaos, Dou Qing sighed and said, “We can stock up more food later, but if Suiyang City falls, will we be able to take it back? In times of crisis, we must act pragmatically. I’m sure if the commander were making this decision, he would do the same. Hurry and carry the food sacks!”
Fortunately, the dried-up river valley wasn’t very large, so not many sacks were needed to fill it. He estimated that just the food carried by their second cavalry unit would be enough!
He only hoped all this sacrifice would be worth it!…
“Hurry up, faster!”
While urging the soldiers beside him to throw the food sacks into the riverbed, Dou Qing anxiously watched the rebel camp on the other side. The sentries on the watchtowers had fallen asleep, and the soldiers patrolling the camp hadn’t noticed the activity yet.
Thankfully, he had ordered the soldiers to wrap felt around their feet, which allowed them to avoid the rebels’ patrols.
“General, it’s done!”
One of the deputy generals stepped on the pile of food sacks built as a bridge and reported to Dou Qing with joy.
General Dou was truly resourceful—having come up with the idea of using food sacks to fill the riverbed. At first glance, it seemed wasteful, but it was actually ingenious. If they took advantage of the darkness to “cross” to the other side and kill all the rebel soldiers, they could retrieve most of the food, causing little loss.