Section 96: The Complete Victory of X

"My lord, the rebel army is dismantling its own tents." After the Han army arrived, an officer reported this good news to Lu Zhi. "They intend to flee!"

It did not seem so. Lu Zhi frowned, sensing an ominous air. However, having come this far, ordering a retreat now would likely result in catastrophic consequences. Thus, he ordered the drums to sound the advance.

The Revolutionary Army’s formation was not significantly different from before. There was only one change: this time, Wang Luo did not command from the heights in the rear, but stood on the front line with his own banner. He had also laid an ambush of about two thousand men directly ahead of his position (an opportunity afforded only because the Revolutionary Army had chosen the battlefield).

He told his subordinates that the opposing Han army, upon seeing him, would surely view this as a golden opportunity for glory. When the enemy attempted a forceful assault and became detached from their main body, they would crush them. With such a victory secured, they could then outflank the enemy and strike the Han line from the rear.

As the drums rolled, the Han soldiers began to chant their slogans:
"The Han army is mighty!"
"How can you say you have no clothes? I share my robes with you. The King raises his army, we sharpen our spears and swords. We share the same hatred for the enemy!"

On the side of the Revolutionary Army, war banners waved and drums thundered. The soldiers shouted the slogans of the Revolution:
"Wealth shall not be hoarded, status shall not be inherited! Execute the powerful clans, divide the fields and land!"
"The people who toil in the fields are all my brothers! United in heart, we shall defeat the strong enemy!"

This was what they called a decisive battle. Win, and gain everything; lose, and lose it all. Wang Luo gazed at the distant Han banners and the men on horseback. These were characters from the books and television shows he had watched since childhood, yet now, due to this strange space, he was to fight these figures—the idols and heroes of his past—and possibly defeat them.

This sparked a peculiar sense of excitement within him, a pleasure flowing from the very depths of his soul. For a person who had long lived in an environment so stable it was almost suffocating, this scene was the pinnacle of happiness. As the danger drew closer, all boredom, emptiness, and malaise vanished without a trace, while fear and doubt had not yet had time to arrive. Thus, mentally, Wang Luo reached a new peak in his brief life.

Time ticked away, and the advancing Han army drew closer to their enemy. But as they neared, the detachment of Han troops stationed at the river crossing fell into chaos. Harboring fear and resentment, they had been unwilling to fight in the first place. A portion of these soldiers tore the sleeves off their left tunics, baring their left arms. Their officers rebuked them, but the soldiers refused to obey, even drawing their blades against their superiors. Soon, they were engaged in a skirmish with the Han troops who remained loyal to the officers.

Seeing the chaos (though not fully grasping the details), Wang Luo immediately issued an order he had never given in previous engagements with this Han force: "Charge!"

The entire Revolutionary Army, spurred on by banners and war drums, surged forward. Most of the opposing Han army, meanwhile, abandoned the chaotic river-crossing troops and pressed ahead with confidence—for at this point, they would have found it strange not to be confident.

The two armies first exchanged a volley of arrows, then the cavalry clashed. The Han cavalry were more elite and greater in number. After defeating and driving off the small contingent of Revolutionary cavalry before them, they acted on the advice of Getini (the items purchased by Red Lightning and others were not powerful enough to force commands, so they could only persuade and suggest) and charged toward Wang Luo’s banner and the unit he commanded.

As they approached, and with Wang Luo’s troops braced for battle, he gave the order for the ambushers to strike. The hidden troops leaped from their positions, and Wang Luo’s unit began its own advance, the two forces pincer-attacking the charging cavalry.

Caught off guard, the cavalry suffered casualties in the pincer movement. But more than the physical blow, the psychological pressure was immense. They had intended to surround and annihilate the enemy, hoping to snatch some glory, yet they found themselves surrounded instead.

They had come to build their careers, not to die. A desperate charge might have created an opening for the rest of the army, but after the recent incident within the Han ranks, they had lost the motive to do so. Many could not bear the pressure and fled from the flanks; seeing their comrades retreat, the rest followed suit.

This flank of the Han army subsequently lost its cavalry protection. Wang Luo, leading his personal guard and the ambushers, pressed the attack on the Han side.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, chaos and slaughter reigned. In these few short minutes, the casualties inflicted on both sides exceeded the total of all previous engagements. In the past, the Revolutionary Army had always leaned toward defense, maintaining lines to avoid disorder. But this time, they fought with reckless courage, launching a life-or-death assault. The Han army, unaccustomed to such pressure, grew slightly panicked, and with their flank suffering such a blow, their line began to crumble.

Seeing this, Red Lightning and the others used their items to have some Han officers order a firm defense, while dispatching reserves to strike the Revolutionary Army’s flank. They remained calm, realizing that despite the current disadvantage, if they could hold the line and coordinate the reserves to strike back, they could still inflict heavy losses on the Revolutionary forces.

However, after the orders were transmitted, the Han reserves did not attack the rear of the Revolutionary Army; instead, they headed straight for the Revolutionary camp. Under their assault, the wounded soldiers guarding the camp offered only token resistance before being killed or fleeing, surrendering the position. The Revolutionary camp was soon draped in Han banners.

But this maneuver had no effect on the main body of the Revolutionary Army. They continued to hammer the Han line from the front and flanks. Deprived of their reserves, the Han line finally broke and began to retreat.

At first, this retreat was orderly, much like the Revolutionary Army’s previous withdrawals. But the troops from the river crossing, seeing the Han line falter, began cutting their left sleeves and fleeing in a panic. As they ran, they shouted, "The Han army is defeated! The Han army is defeated!" They charged toward the rear of the Han position, cutting down guards and looting the supplies.

Seeing this, and determined not to let his recent efforts go to waste—to ensure this battle was not merely a minor victory but the end of the entire campaign—Wang Luo sent out all his scouts with orders for the collapsing Han troops to lay down their weapons and bare their left arms to signal surrender.

Since the soldiers were mostly farmers, the Revolutionary policy was beneficial to them. While rigid military discipline might have bound them while their ranks were intact, once defeated, they had no reason to refuse to join the Revolution.

Encouraged by these shouts and the momentum of victory, the Revolutionary soldiers fought and pursued without regard for exhaustion. The order the Han army had struggled to maintain finally collapsed completely. Apart from those who surrendered, the majority fled, scattering across the hills and plains.

Lu Zhi and other high-ranking officers, crushed by the defeat, fled back to the camp they had only recently established. But Wang Luo led his men to his officers, demanding they push harder and harder still to assault the enemy camp. If the Han were given time to reorganize, the fighting would continue, and his side had no food supplies. But by seizing the camp, they could finish the Han force here once and for all. Inspired by the victory, the officers accepted his command and, ignoring the Han camp's hastily organized defenses, stormed and captured it entirely.