Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Chapter 46 Night Raid

When Guan Hai reached a distance where he could vaguely see the Han army's camp, he didn't rush to attack but carefully observed the surroundings.

Soon, Guan Hai noticed something was wrong.

Not only were there few soldiers at the watchtowers and other key defensive points around the camp, but the number of patrolling soldiers within the camp was far below the standard for a five-thousand-man camp.

An empty camp?!

The thought suddenly flashed in Guan Hai's mind, startling him.

Subsequently, Guan Hai no longer hesitated and led six thousand elite Yellow Turbans towards the camp in front of him.

The soldiers at the watchtowers and other key defensive points, upon discovering the densely packed elite Yellow Turbans suddenly charging out of the night, not only didn't resist but didn't even sound the alarm, fleeing towards the rear in unison.

'The cunning Han army, as expected, there's a trap!'

Guan Hai's heart was completely convinced of this idea, and he understood why ten thousand Han soldiers had suddenly appeared like divine soldiers, flanking Julu City from the rear.

Without the slightest hesitation, Guan Hai used his ring-pommel saber to split open the camp gate, kicked it down, and roared.

"In the name of the Yellow Heaven, flatten the Han army's camp!"

The six thousand elite Yellow Turbans behind Guan Hai, seeing Guan Hai's bravery, were greatly encouraged, and with fanatical expressions, they followed behind Guan Hai, charging into the Han army's camp.

Guan Hai took the lead, charging into the Han army's camp, encountering very little resistance along the way. Occasionally, he saw a few Han soldiers who seemed to have just woken up from their dreams, and they also instinctively fled towards the rear.

Guan Hai quickly estimated that the entire Han army camp probably didn't even have five hundred men.

'We've been completely fooled!'

Julu City, revered as a "holy city" by countless Taiping Dao followers, had actually been intimidated by a mere five hundred Han soldiers for a day and a night.

At this thought, the anger in Guan Hai's heart surged even more, wishing he could level the entire Han army camp on the spot. He repeatedly ordered his Yellow Turban elites to destroy all the tents they passed.

However, as Guan Hai continued to delve deeper into the Han army's camp, he didn't realize that the Yellow Turbans' original formation had completely scattered.

Or rather, even if Guan Hai had noticed, he wouldn't have cared.

He couldn't tolerate this empty camp remaining near Julu City for even a day longer. Guan Hai only wanted to destroy it on the spot and quickly report back to General Ren Gong.

However, when Guan Hai chased after the scattered fleeing Han soldiers and reached the rear half of the camp, he slashed open a tent blocking his path.

What appeared before Guan Hai was a large group of Han soldiers fifty paces away, waiting in full battle array.

This sudden change startled Guan Hai.

The next moment, the Han soldiers in formation parted a path in the middle.

A chestnut-red warhorse stepped out from within, carrying Guan Yu, whose face was like a heavy date, with a three-foot-long beard under his chin. He wore scale armor and a green cloak, and the Green Dragon Crescent Blade he held upside down emitted a chilling light under the illumination of the torches, like a divine being.

"Guan has been waiting for you for a long time."

Guan Hai felt a chill and fear rise in his heart and quickly stopped, shouting, "Who are you?"

"A nobody, how are you qualified to know Guan's name?"

Guan Yu said, and his warhorse instantly moved, charging straight towards Guan Hai.

Accompanying him were the two thousand Han soldiers advancing in formation, shouting "Kill!" in unison, following behind Guan Yu, charging towards the Yellow Turban elites whose formation was in disarray.

At the same time as the shouts of killing rose, the soldiers who had been ambushing on the edge of the camp immediately lit the prepared flammable materials around the camp, instantly creating a large circle of fire, illuminating the entire Han army camp.

Immediately, those soldiers quickly occupied the advantageous high ground behind the circle of fire, drawing their bows and shooting at the Yellow Turban elites trapped in the middle of the Han army camp.

"Ah! I've been hit by an arrow! The Yellow Heaven grant me strength, the Great Virtuous Teacher grant me strength..."

"There's an ambush! There's an ambush!"

"There's fire, we can't get out this way..."

In an instant, the Yellow Turban elites, whose formation was already in disarray, were completely thrown into chaos. The wails and roars rang out from time to time, and the bright flames illuminated the terrified faces of countless Yellow Turban elites.

At this point, Guan Hai clearly understood that he had fallen for the Han army's trick.

Instinctively, Guan Hai wanted to rely on his own bravery to carve out a path of survival for his followers, charging forward instead of retreating, meeting Guan Yu head-on.

"Clang!"

The moment the Green Dragon Crescent Blade and the ring-pommel saber collided, a bright spark lit up in the darkness.

Guan Hai's face was filled with shock.

What a heavy blade...

Guan Hai prided himself on being unmatched within the Taiping Dao. Even if he faced the black-faced Han Zhang Fei, even if he didn't have the confidence to win, he didn't think he would be much inferior.

However, after clashing with Guan Yu head-on, Guan Hai felt that the ring-pommel saber in his hand was about to slip out, and his arms were extremely sore.

"Great Virtuous Teacher above, grant me true qi, combining with the creation of the Yellow Heaven."

The next moment, Guan Hai roared, his veins bulging all over his body, and the muscles exposed on the outside seemed to visibly grow larger.

Guan Yu, who had just passed Guan Hai, slightly opened his eyes, taking in Guan Hai's changes, and softly uttered.

"Petty tricks, a dying struggle."

With Guan Yu's insight, how could he not see that Guan Hai had probably used some method of the Taiping Dao to deceive the world, entering a more extreme temporary state than his own build-up of momentum?

However, Guan Yu's accumulated momentum, even if exhausted in the first three strikes, would not negatively affect his subsequent combat power.

As for Guan Hai's state, in Guan Yu's view, it could probably only last for dozens of rounds before he would be completely exhausted.

Then, Guan Yu swung his second blade at Guan Hai almost without hesitation.

"Clang!"

A large spark reappeared, illuminating Guan Hai's hideous face.

However, Guan Yu's third blade arrived like lightning, directly slashing at Guan Hai's head.

A sound like the clashing of bronze bells suddenly rang out.

Guan Hai's warhorse, which had blocked this blade head-on, let out a wail. Guan Hai didn't utter a word. Only the bulging veins on his body seemed to be rupturing, repeatedly beginning to bleed.

Three strikes had passed, and the accumulated momentum had been exhausted.

Guan Yu's aura clearly weakened a lot at once, but the arrogance on his face didn't diminish in the slightest. After passing Guan Hai and opening a slight distance, he turned his horse around and said indifferently.

"To be able to withstand Guan's three strikes, although you are suspected of taking shortcuts, you are still barely passable."

Guan Hai didn't care about the blood seeping from his body, but stared at Guan Yu while reaching out to tear off the yellow cloth from his forehead, then tied it to the palm of his right hand holding the ring-pommel saber, to prevent his palm from being sore and the blood from wetting it, causing the weapon to slip.

"I have not repaid the Great Virtuous Teacher's kindness, I must not die here."

Guan Hai muttered, looking back at the chaotic Yellow Turban elites behind him, constantly retreating under the advance of the Han soldiers.

Guan Hai understood... the situation was over!

And in the rear of the Han army camp, shrouded in darkness, there seemed to be an endless stream of Han soldiers pouring out.

"Retreat! Retreat!!!"

Guan Hai shouted several times, ordering the remaining Yellow Turban followers to retreat, while he himself charged towards Guan Yu again.

"Take my life!"

Seeing this, Guan Yu also met him without the slightest hesitation.

For a time, the two warhorses circled around, and the weapons in Guan Yu and Guan Hai's hands constantly collided and fought together, seemingly evenly matched.

Except for a team of Yellow Turban warriors belonging to Guan Hai's personal guard who were covering the rear, the remaining Yellow Turban elites, under Guan Hai's orders, began to retreat towards the direction of the camp gate in a panic.

However, retreat was undoubtedly extremely dangerous. A slight carelessness would result in complete annihilation, especially for the Yellow Turbans' disorganized retreat.

Despite the rearguard action of a team of Yellow Turban warriors, a large number of Yellow Turban elites were still ambushed and killed, coupled with a large number of soldiers occupying the high ground on the left and right sides of the camp, constantly firing cold arrows.

The bodies of Yellow Turban elites fell on the retreat path...

And Guan Hai, who had been entangled with Guan Yu for fifty rounds, felt that the bravery in his body was rapidly declining and dared not continue to delay.

Between another collision of the ring-pommel saber and the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, Guan Hai suddenly spat a mouthful of blood at Guan Yu, briefly obscuring Guan Yu's vision.

Guan Hai quickly retreated to the Yellow Turban warrior guards, whose losses were also extremely heavy, and then, mutually covering each other, began to retreat out of the camp.

Gradually, Guan Hai felt for the first time that his seemingly omnipotent body was so weak, and even the ring-pommel saber in his hand was almost too heavy to lift.

"I see the gate."

A somewhat weak voice from a Yellow Turban warrior entered Guan Hai's ears, causing Guan Hai's spirit to barely stir. He quickly looked up towards the direction of the Han army camp gate.

The hope of escape rose in his heart, causing a surge of heat to reappear in Guan Hai's almost completely exhausted body.

"Charge!"

Guan Hai patted the warhorse beneath him, which was also scarred, and quickly charged towards the Han army camp gate in front of him, which seemed to have no obstacles.

At this moment, the dark gate seemed to emit an invisible light in Guan Hai's eyes.

'No matter what, as long as I reach there... I must return to Julu, I have not repaid the Great Virtuous Teacher's kindness...'

At this moment, Guan Hai even ignored the screams of the few remaining guards behind him, leaping over the camp gate in front of him on his horse.

Suddenly, Guan Hai felt an unnatural silence.

Why was it so quiet?

Shouldn't half of the followers have also successfully retreated from the Han army's ambush under the cover?

As his warhorse landed, and Guan Hai's eyes adjusted to the darkness outside the camp, he saw Yellow Turban corpses strewn all over the ground, and beyond them, a Han army arrayed and waiting.

In the midst of that Han army, he could vaguely make out two figures on horseback, one armored and wielding twin swords, the other seemingly dressed in a conspicuous white scholar's robe.

Perhaps it was because of the eerie silence, but Guan Hai thought he could hear their conversation.

"Zikun, this should be the last one, right?"

"This man is quite a hero, a pity, a pity. Let us send him on his way, Brother Xuande."

The next moment, countless arrows pierced Guan Hai's body...