9 All out gamble

Ei Sei PoV

I was the crown Prince of Qin, yet I was just a hostage at Zhao. Everyday, they beat me up, throws rocks and dirt at me, abuse me with the vilest of words. My own mother went insane and hated me.

Despite being a prince, I felt lower than the slaves. One day, I will take my revenge for all of it. I will conquer Zhao and make them suffer. I will destroy this cursed nation. Or at least that's what I used to think before I met her.

She told me that It was not my fault that these bad things happened. She was the only one who believe in me even when my mother deserted me, she, a citizen of Zhao. That was when I got a wake up call and started to see the world differently.

When she rescued me, I felt like I have found the light to crawl through this darkness. But that was soon gone as she persihed. But even with her dying breath, she told me that I could be a good king. A good person. Someone who will make the world a better place.

Someday, I will create an empire where the borders don't exist anymore. I will unite these lands which have been fighting for so long. Coincidentally, Qin has the 6 greats and there are 6 other Kingdoms.

But only OuKi, Lady Kyou and Koshou is left of them. So I will create a new order of 6 greats. I already have someone in mind, someone who is still a mystery among the other Kingdoms but everyone admits one thing about him, he is really strong.

Qin Camp, Nan city (KouRyu PoV)

I woke up with a headache and my body feeling sore all over. This was something I was unfamiliar with. I remember fighting both Sun Ce and Han Ming and almost getting beaten.

Although I managed to get away thanks to Zhao Yun, we have lost the battle. I didn't predict Chu going so far just to get me. I should feel proud I guess. Speaking of, before I fainted, I heard some notifications from the system. I should check them I guess.

Ding! The host is one step closer to breakthrough

Ding! The host is on the verge of breakthrough

Ding! due to increased difficulty, Host has arrived at the threshold of Advanced level of Supreme General of Heavens.

Ding! due to host breaking free from certain death Host has received a one time reward : Random general summon ticket X1

This is not too bad I guess. So I almost died huh. The losses Qin army suffered was not small. I even lost those two guys under me , Enkei and Aizen. They stayed back to protect our retreat. This left a bad taste in my mouth as they were the first ones to fall under my direct command.

*Flashback

I stepped forward to accept the challenge of duel. Sun Ce had smug look as he spoke," You are indeed strong, even as strong as me. But you are defeated. By the time you will be defeated by me, your army will meet its end."

I laughed despite the fact we were getting slaughtered and replied," I'm not afraid of death, but it won't be today. Remember this day well Sun Ce, as this is the day you almost caught General KouRyu."

I lunged at him without wasting further words and Sun Ce followed suit.

Sun Ce, from the famous Sun family of Jiangdong and the nephew of the current king Caolie of Chu. Growing up, he rampaged through the eastern fronts, conquering and unifying the broken lands of Chu. If Chunshenkun, the prime minister is the one who held the political reigns, Sun Ce along with Kou En, His son Xiang Yu and future Han Ming are the military pillars of Chu.

His only weakness was complex strategies which was solved when Zhou Yu joined with him. Together, they would be unstoppable and the might of Chu soared with the new generation. He is probably the strongest opponent I have faced till now.

We clashed our spears as it made a thundering noise. Sun Ce's style was wild and powerful while my skills were fast and precise. We kept trading blows but there was no clear hit. I am conserving my strength to fight once I beat him, although it will be difficult to finish him early.

All of a sudden, I sensed an attack coming from my back and I instinctively moved away as Busephalus jumped to create more distance. I swung my blade immediately to parry the next strike that came from Sun Ce.

I created some space between us to take a look at the new attacker. It was a giant of a man, holding a big mace. I instantly identified him as Han Ming, future Supreme Commander of the coalition Chu army.

It would be great if I could take him out now but it seems impossible. I better look for a chance to retreat.

Zhang Liao has managed to get General Kyou and ChouTou away but most of their troops were left. I looked towards my right to see both Aizen and Enkei fighting fiercely to help the others escape. When the war is over, I will praise them well.

My thoughts were broken as Han Ming and Sun Ce both attacked me.

I tried to distract them by saying," ganging up on little old me, aren't you guys pathetic. "

Han Ming replied as I parried his swing," It was more pathetic when you poisoned those poor souls because you couldn't beat them fairly."

I laughed and said," It was a waste of my time to fight those weaklings, so I made it so they can't fight back. Maybe you are ganging up on me with Sun Ce because you are a weakling who can't beat me as well."

Sun Ce interrupted," I'm enough to take you down but uncle KouEn decided to make sure you don't see the light of the day again. Now fight, or have you just given up?"

I stretched my neck to pop the bones as I spoke," Well, since it's like this, let's put maximum effort."

I unleashed my full strength with a roar which makes both of them shocked but they charged anyway. The next hour was like a blur. None of us let the other party relax and kept attacking. Han Ming had a pierced arm so he swung his mace with one hand. He was bleeding all over from being cut and a bruised chest.

Sun Ce had one eye closed due to bleeding from his forehead and his right arm was slung limply, probably broken. I had my left shoulder dislocated or broken, can't guess. my right leg was pierced and bruised with bleeding. I could barely feel my arms as they grew numb.

I looked around and most of the Qin soldiers were dead or escaped. I decided to disengage and move to the right as it was the only place with my troops.

I felt someone rushing at me and looked to see it was Zhao Yun.

He yelled to me," Get out of here my lord as I distract them. All survivors have been escorted away with the generals. Only ones left are the stragglers and our troops."

I replied," We need someone to cover our escape otherwise we won't make it. It's too late. Gather the troops for a charge to breakthrough."

Zhao Yun tried to reply but he was attacked by Han Ming and Sun Ce attacked me. We fought for a few rounds but I realized that its certain death if I stay longer. so I yelled out "all troops retreat. Regroup with General Kyou."

Zhao Yun and I rushed out after that and tried to cut a path but our stamina was at our limit.

Enkei and Aizen came to us just at that moment and spoke," leave this to us General. We will guard your back as you escape from this death trap. Qin can't lose you here."

I replied solemnly," This will mean your death. Are you certain?

They both replied immediately, " Although we could only serve for a small amount of time under you, it has been an honour. We will die hundreds of times before letting them harm you. Good fortune to you general."

They rushed to block our pursuers. I gave a final glance towards their heroic figures and vowed to take care of their families. I don't know how long it took us to get out but we only stopped when we saw the Kyou army flags. I lost my vision as I got down from the horse and someone grabbed me to prevent my fall. That's all I could remember as I faded into the darkness.

Present time

I sat up with a grunt and reached for the water glass next to my bed. Zhang Liao came to my side and helped me drink it. I immediately asked afterwards ," How many did we lose?"

He sighed and replied," we lost both Enkei and Aizen along with their army. My and Zhao Yun's cavalry has only little over 1500 troops both. I have slight injuries but Zhao Yun broke some bones probably. Your army suffered greatly too.

Only 3000 formation breaker, 500 cavalry and 800 archers left with about 300 heavy spearmen. the Qin army has barely 70,000 including us. General Kyou and ChouTou decided to wait for you to wake up and discuss our next steps. I got up with a grunt and put on my shirt to go and meet them.

On my way we met Zhao Yun who was talking with his soldiers. He was also in a bad shape. We talked about the overall condition of the army as we walked to the command tent.

General Kyou tackled me into a hug as soon as I entered and checked over me to see the wounds. I could hear some snickering as I groaned in pain. I tried to pry her off me but she didn't let go.

I sighed and let her do her thing as she spoke, "Kou kun, You should be resting still. You already have done enough. With our current strength, there is nothing to do except go back. We were just waiting for you to wake up so we can discuss our options."

I stopped her and spoke," I haven't given up yet. There is still one method left for us to get them back for this gift. Otherwise all the sacrifices our soldiers made will be pointless."

ChouTou asked me," we don't have enough numbers to take on their army. They have sent 2 armies to pursue us so even if we surprise one army, the other will just rescue them. Don't get blinded by defeat."

I replied calmly," We need to wait a few days until I and Zhao Yun get better. We need to be at our best to be able to execute that strategy. This is probably the calmest I've been as our defeat also gave me the chance to implement this strategy.

Also, leak a message to the Chu camp that Both you and Kyou have returned to Qin. You have left me 30,000 troops to escort the wounded soldiers. As we have injured people, we are a little behind the main army led by you two. This bait will definitely attract him."

General Kyou this time asked, " Who are you targeting?"

I said lightly," Well, that should be obvious. Take the brain out and the muscle can only dance like a headless chicken. I'm gonna take out Zhou Yu."

General Kyou angrily asked," How do you plan to beat that guy? He is a genius and has 100,000 troops along with 50,000 more following, where you will have barely 40,000. What strategy can even achieve that with the soldiers low morale? "

I just replied her with two words," Sun Bin"