tkworld Chapter 2660 When the generals were killed and the flags were seized, the army collapsed like a hous
Chapter 2660 When the generals were killed and the flags were seized, the army collapsed like a hous
Chapter 2660 When the generals were killed and the flags were seized, the army collapsed like a house of cards.
With a snap, the first arrow struck its target, and the hardwood flagpole, as thick as a child's arm, broke in two.
The banner lost its support and collapsed with a crash, its enormous surface unfurling in mid-air like a dying giant bird slowly drifting down.
At the same time, Dongfang Changqing's pupils shrank as he saw the two dark red streaks shooting towards him.
He wanted to hide; in fact, his body's instincts, honed by years of battle, had already acted in his place at the moment of crisis.
However, his movements were ultimately a beat too slow, or rather, the two arrows were simply too fast.
The first arrow pierced his right shoulder, and the bloodthirsty aura exploded at the wound, sending flesh and blood flying. Dongfang Changqing groaned, and the heavy sword in his right hand fell to the ground.
The second arrow followed closely, piercing his left rib. The arrow emerged from his back, spraying blood as it embedded itself in the soil behind him.
Dongfang Changqing's knees buckled, and he almost knelt down, but he ultimately did not.
Dongfang Changqing saw the large flag lying on the ground, the "Ji" banner stained with blood and mud. He staggered over, grabbed the flagpole, and with his last bit of strength, raised the flag back up.
The flag was unfurled, revealing the large character "姬" (Ji).
Dongfang Changqing braced himself against the flagpole with his shoulder. He was covered in blood, but he still stood straight. Blood was gushing from the arrow wounds on both sides of his body. He could no longer lift his arms and could only use his shoulder to hold up the flagpole that could fall down again at any moment.
"Protect the flag!"
Dongfang Changqing shouted hoarsely, his voice so husky it was almost inaudible.
The Qian Army guards rushed forward like madmen, using their bodies to block Dongfang Changqing and the large banner.
Some raised shields, some spread their arms, and some simply straightened their chests, forming a human wall with their flesh and blood.
Xue Rengui remained expressionless and drew his bow again.
Another arrow.
The arrow pierced the chest of one guard, and with its momentum, it pierced the abdomen of a second guard. Both men fell at the same time, but three more immediately rushed forward to block their path.
Another arrow, another person falls, but someone else immediately takes their place.
The Qian army guards were like moths drawn to a flame. They knew they couldn't stop the arrows and that they would die, but they still rushed forward one after another, using their bodies to block the deadly arrows.
Xue Rengui fired arrow after arrow, and with each arrow someone fell, and with each arrow someone else took their place.
The quiver was empty, and Zhou Qing, who was standing to the side, said nothing, but simply handed over a new arrow.
Xue Rengui caught the arrow, drew his bow, shot, caught the arrow, drew his bow, shot. His movements were mechanical and precise, as if he were not killing someone, but completing some predetermined procedure.
Finally, the human wall made of flesh and blood could no longer hold them back.
The last line of defense collapsed, revealing the figure still clinging desperately to the flagpole.
Dongfang Changqing was covered in blood, and the large flag on his shoulder was soaked in blood, making it almost impossible to see its original color. His head was drooping, and he seemed to have lost consciousness, but his shoulder was still supporting the flagpole, and his body was still standing.
Xue Rengui nocked his last arrow, drew the bowstring taut, and aimed at Dongfang Changqing's chest.
In fact, at such a close distance, a sharpshooter of his caliber doesn't need to aim at all.
At that very moment, Dongfang Changqing suddenly raised his head. Due to severe blood loss, his eyes were blurred and his vision was unfocused, yet he still looked in the direction from which the arrow had come, at the figure on horseback holding a longbow. His lips moved, as if he wanted to say something.
Then, in that instant, the arrow arrived, piercing his chest, and blood splattered out.
Dongfang Changqing swayed, but still did not fall. His shoulder remained firmly against the flagpole and the flag whose inscription was no longer legible.
The flagpole tilted slowly behind him, and he tilted along with it.
Finally, the flagpole fell to the ground, and Dongfang Changqing's body also collapsed, falling beside the flagpole, among those comrades who had risked their lives to shield him from arrows.
His hand remained clutching the corner of that banner until his death.
"What a pity, such a hero is not one of the great Han!" Xue Rengui put away the Zhentian Divine Bow in his hand, shook his slightly numb arms, and sighed with some shock.
Just now, he fired fifty or sixty arrows in one go, almost continuously without any rest, which must have taken a toll on him.
Fortunately, although the whereabouts of the enemy's commander-in-chief, Ji Chengfu, were unknown, the banner eventually fell.
However, this feeling of awe and shock was only a fleeting moment for Xue Rengui; it was just an insignificant instant before he had already forgotten about it.
The war is not over yet, and he has more important things to do. Now is not the time for him to waste his time on something so trivial.
Immediately, Xue Rengui straightened his back and roared, "Ji Chengfu is dead! Those who surrender will not be killed!"
With this thunderous roar, Xue Rengui had mobilized the last of his power, so that the moment he roared, the sound exploded like thunder, rolling in all directions in the morning light.
Zhou Qing was the first to react, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Ji Cheng's father is dead! Those who surrender will not be killed!"
The eight leaders shouted in unison, and then the surrounding Han cavalry joined in. One shout after another, wave after wave, the shouts spreading rapidly towards the outer edge of the battlefield like a rising tide.
"Ji Cheng's father is dead!"
Those who surrender will not be killed!
At first, the shouts only echoed within the Han army ranks, but as more and more people joined in, the sound gradually grew, until it drowned out the sounds of clashing swords, the cries of the dying, and all the chaotic noise of the battlefield.
Upon hearing this, some of the Qian soldiers on the periphery stopped their swords, looked up blankly, and gazed in the direction where the central army banner had originally been.
There once stood a huge banner fluttering in the wind, a pillar of strength for all the soldiers of the Qian Army. As long as that banner remained, they knew that the General was still alive and that there was still hope for this battle.
But now, there's nothing there.
There was only chaotic smoke and dust, only fallen flags, and only the ever-approaching battle cries of the Han army.
"The General is dead?"
"impossible……"
"Where's the flag? Why is it down?"
Whispers spread through the Qian army ranks like a plague, more deadly than swords and spears.
The soldiers of the Qian army further away could not see the scene of the central army. They could only hear the overwhelming shouts, see their comrades-in-arms with fear on their faces, and feel the ground beneath their feet trembling. The Han cavalry was still charging.