Naturally, they faced rearward, their backs to the refugees on the slope.
Yet as a refugee rushed past Commander Xiao, he suddenly lunged, drawing a dagger from his waist to thrust viciously toward Xiao's neck!
Commander Xiao was clad in sturdy armor from head to foot; virtually only his neck was exposed.
The night was pitch-black and the strike completely unexpected. With mere feet separating them, even the commander's personal guards could not react in time to save him.
He Lingchuan stood just diagonally behind Commander Xiao. Seeing a glint of light flash in the dark, he instantly knew something was wrong. But by the time he lunged forward, it was already too late; he could only watch helplessly—
A brilliant arc of saber light flashed. Head and body parted.
To be precise, the upward diagonal slash had sheared the attacker clean in two from his left ribs through his right shoulder. A whole body hit the ground in two severed pieces, blood gushing in torrents.
He Lingchuan choked on his breath.
The lightning speed of that strike, its ruthless finality, reminded him of what he had felt facing Nian Songyu in the Panlong illusion.
As diligently and bitterly as he trained every day, he could never develop saber intent like that.
Commander Xiao lowered his blade, a string of blood beads dripping from the tip to the ground. Blood had splashed across his face too, but he could not be bothered to wipe it, letting the rain slowly wash it away.
Why bother wiping it? He would be killing enemies in a moment anyway—no need for wasted effort.
His personal guard spoke with shame, "My lord..."
Commander Xiao raised a hand, cutting him off. "Stay alert, all of you!"
He Lingchuan murmured, "Fine blade work."
"Heaven helps those who help themselves. You need eyes in the back of your head." Commander Xiao glanced at him. "Not bad moves yourself."
He Lingchuan felt rather sheepish. "I was too slow." In the end, the commander had dealt with the assassin himself.
The enemy had been crafty, slipping into civilian clothes and infiltrating behind the lines to take the commander's head. If the strike had succeeded, the battle here would have been over in a flash.
One only had to look at how seasoned Commander Xiao was to realize how perilous the battlefield truly was.
"You are a civilian, not a soldier." By the lightning flash in the sky, over a hundred horsemen came galloping toward them not far away. Commander Xiao kept his eyes on them as he addressed the men around him, "Perform well, and you can be selected for the city army! Food and lodging will be prioritized for you!"
In wartime, resources went first to the strong; no one could dispute that.
He Lingchuan had a sudden thought. "Can we join the Gale Army?"
At those words, the other recruits turned together to look at Commander Xiao, clearly invested in the answer.
Commander Xiao cracked a smile. "Dream on. You aren't qualified yet!"
A deep gulf lay between the Panlong City Defense Army and the Gale Army that swept across the wilderness.
The men looked somewhat disappointed. Another Gale Army cavalryman chimed in, "Defending the city is safe and steady—what's bad about that? Whenever the Gale Army deploys, danger is guaranteed."
Though he said so, pride showed clearly on his face.
Another recruit asked, "When the time comes, will someone teach us how to kill enemies?"
"Naturally."
Commander Xiao added, "Every ninety days there's a joint drill. If you're lucky, you might even see General Red give a demonstration in person."
General Red!
Even without the person showing up, just mentioning the name was enough to boost morale.
Beneath everyone's stunned stares, he twirled his saber. "My blade work was personally guided by General Red!"
He Lingchuan heard smug pride in his voice.
Just a bit of personal guidance from General Red was enough to forge such fierce, lethal blade craft?
Just then, the hundred-plus swift riders opposite came charging in.
Commander Xiao did not raise his blade, instead ordering the men to widen the opening in the carriage barricade a bit more.
These were friendly forces.
Once the hundred-plus men crested the slope, they vaulted off their horses and helped close up the barricade, arranging it into three lines front to back before taking their places among the carts, weapons ready.
The moment they reached the ridge, a foul wind hit He Lingchuan's face, thick with the stench of blood. Moments later, he saw bloodstains and wounds on most of them.
The leading officer high-fived Commander Xiao, who laughed. "You actually made it back alive? Looks like the Baling folks didn't eat their fill today!"
Still catching his breath, the officer retorted, "If you're looking to snatch the glory, it won't be that easy! The Baling force chasing us is seven hundred strong, a detachment under Zuo Qin."
"Any civilians left behind?"
"Those who lived have all been herded back. We lost six brothers."
The implication behind that first sentence sent a chill down the spine. Yet this was a battlefield; civilians were mere cannon fodder.
He Lingchuan had witnessed the wild sand season; most of the resentful souls rising from the pool-wells were dressed in civilian clothing.
Those who died on the flight were buried in silence across the wilderness, never even recorded in casualty lists.
Evidently the Gale Army had grown accustomed to such bleak human misery. As the officers exchanged grim banter, the enemy drew near this canyon.
Urgent hoofbeats drummed as a massive throng of enemies in crisp armor surged into view.
He Lingchuan glanced behind him. Even including the reinforcements who had just pulled back, they had barely over a hundred men—less than a seventh of the enemy's numbers.
Fortunately, the enemy had only two hundred-odd cavalry; the rest were infantry. Closing in, they lowered the heads of their halberds, intending to vault over the barricade blocking the road.
Horses could not cross, but men could jump.
As they rushed into range, Commander Xiao waved his hand, and a volley of arrows rained down from the top of the slope and the trees.
After friendly troops arrived, he had detached more men up with bows, increasing their archers to eleven.
Eleven men, sixteen arrows.
Several carried crossbows capable of loosing two bolts in succession.
Prefect Sun's chests had plenty of fletched arrows, and they expended them generously.
Still, against seven hundred armored, well-equipped enemy soldiers, this volley was far too thin to mount an effective suppression.
At a moment like this, He Lingchuan sorely missed the giant ballistas and cannons mounted on Panlong City's walls. Firing those was exhilarating, and their lethality was second to none.
Commander Xiao roared, "Charge! Leave none alive!"
The Gale Army bellowed in unison, brandishing their weapons to meet the assault.
A pale yellow radiance flared across all their bodies—
Commander Xiao had activated his State Token, bestowing its blessing upon the troops under his command.
By a rough count, each man here had to face at least seven foes; every bit of aid meant one less ounce of crushing pressure.
Across the line, the Baling soldiers glowed with pale green light.
This meant the enemy commander held a lower rank than Commander Xiao, or their morale was not as high as that of the Gale Army. But as formidable as a State Token was, it was only a bonus; the true outcome depended on the baseline combat power of the two sides.
A bonus to zero was still zero; He Lingchuan's basic arithmetic was sound enough.
A State Token had miraculous effects on the battlefield, but it was not the sole variable deciding the outcome. Countless battles throughout history had proven this, so the Baling soldiers faced the Gale Army behind the barricade with utter fearlessness.
In the blink of an eye, the two armies collided.
Commander Xiao stood right behind the first row of carriages, the first to face the onslaught. If the Baling army was a thrusting spear, he was an unyielding rock, firmly halting the initial charge.
Standing beside him, He Lingchuan cleaved his blade toward an oncoming enemy.
This was his first time experiencing the miracle of a State Token. The most immediate sensation was greater strength and sharper agility. Stepping forward, he sprang farther than before, as though a spring were fitted beneath his soles, giving him quite a start.
Chapter 89