CH8 The Sincerest Sacrifice

After the day's siege, Lieutenant En caught word of the grave situation that their army was in, this made En even more fired up to bring down Baron tonight. Soon the darkness of the night came along, and Lieutenant En sent a messenger to both of the other two officers he had picked the previous night to lead this night incursion.

With accuracy and precise timing, the three large bodies of cavalry struck mercilessly at the weakest points of Baron's camp and easily broke through its defenses.

"Find their General and kill him!" Lieutenant En shouted as the camp began to wake.

Some of the camp's soldiers shouted, "Enemy attack!" , while others were cursing for being woken up in the middle of the night. Most were just confused as to what was happening.

A soldier ran into Baron's tent. "General, our camp has been breached by multiple cavalry units."

Baron could already hear the rumbling of thousands of cavalry in the distance. "How many enemy troops in total?"

"At least a thousand, perhaps two. It's hard to tell in the darkness of night."

"How many losses have we taken so far?"

"Not too many, only about a hundred."

"That little?" Baron was confused, as the point of a night incursion was to use the element of surprise to deal a serious blow to the enemy.

"They seem to be avoiding most of the troops, sir."

No wonder." Baron finally realized what Yue Fei were planning to achieve in this night raid. They wanted to kill him while his soldiers were running around in confusion.

"Hm." Baron thought for a quick moment, then grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled something on it, then handed it to the messenger and said, "Quickly, send this message to Lieutenant Ben."

"Yes, sir." The soldier grabbed the piece of paper and ran out of the tent.

After the messenger left, Baron grabbed a spear from his weapon rack and stepped out of his tent to rally his troops. When the messenger left, Baron grabbed the weapon closest to him, a spear, and set out to lead a counterattack against the marauders.

But despite being able to rally troops close to him, his troops were far too tired from the day of battle and being woken up in the night to hold the enemy forces back. Soon enough, Lieutenant spotted Baron and his men battling it out with some of his cavalry.

"Men, follow me! We can take the enemy General's head!"

Just as Baron's forces seemed destined to crumple, a ray of hope arrived from the darkness. Officer Phillips, who had set out to light firecrackers with his two hundred men, had returned back to camp to rescue Baron.

After leading his men to Baron, Officer Phillips handed the reins of a horse to Baron.

"Boss, we have to get you out of here."

"No, we have to stay and fight for a little while longer." Said Baron.

"Are you serious?" Phillips couldn't believe his ears. "If we stay here any longer, the only thing that will happen is our, and your, deaths!

"You're right." Baron said, but he still didn't want to leave. He needed to stay longer to ensure that his plan would succeed.

"If I'm right, then get on the horse and follow me. We have a path of retreat, but my men won't be able to hold it for much longer."

Baron nodded. In the end, his officer was correct. This wasn't the type of situation he could stall out forever. "I was wrong, Officer Phillips. Let's head out."

As Baron retreated with his men, Lieutenant En immediately ordered what was left of his cavalry to give chase and bring him Baron's head.

Baron headed towards the U shaped steep incline they had found before the first day of battle. This confused En, as he was sure Baron would've tried to lead them to one of the points of interest he and Yue Fei had scouted beforehand, each of which they'd created a plan for. But there was nothing in the direction Baron was riding off towards.

How could En know that there was a knowledge gap between the two forces? This difference in knowledge meant that Lieutenant En believed that Baron didn't have a plan, but was just running away, trying to escape.

He felt increasingly confident as he chased, and he shouted for his men to ride faster in their pursuit. Within moments, his fastest riders were at the heels of Baron's laggards. Recognizing the situation, these men immediately turned around in order to try and stall the enemy for as long as possible.

Baron ran around in circles in an attempt to give his lieutenant Ben more time to mobilize their troops into the optimal placement. This went on for a while before Baron's army consisted of less than 100 soldiers. Phillips was starting to get worried as the enemy seemed to be relentless in their pursuit.

"Boss, how long do we still have to go in order to reach our destination?" Phillips said with worry showing on his face.

"Still aways to go, unfortunately."

"If we keep going on like this then we are unlikely to reach our destination before our enemies reach you, boss."

"So, do you have a suggestion?"

"I will split the men we have now into two groups, then branch off and create a wedge formation and strike the enemy on their sides. This should slow their troops enough for you to reach our destination.

"That is an admirable plan, but I want you to promise me one thing before you leave."

"Whatever you command, my lord."

"Promise me that you will meet me back at camp in the morning."

Officer Phillips stared at Baron for a moment before placing his fist over his heart and replying.

"You got it, boss." Phillips raised his hand and chopped it in the air a few times, signalling his troops to break off.

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The pursuing forces saw the two sides split, and one of the officers rode up to Lieutenant En's side. "Sir, shall we split forces to chase both parties?"

"No need. Our main objective is to kill Baron. If the others are smart, they'll leave this area as quickly as they can. All forces are to concentrate on killing Baron."

"Understood."

The two rode at the front of their forces as they continued to pursue Baron, but after a few moments, they heard the sound of fighting behind them.

Lieutenant En didn't dare stop his mount, but he couldn't help but feel that something was off. "What the hell is going on in our back lines!?"

A soldier yelled back. "Sir, we're being attacked from behind! Our troops in the back are tired out and defenseless!"

"What?" En felt incredulous. Had Baron somehow convinced his men to undertake such a suicidal mission?

En suddenly remembered a warning that Yue Fei had given to him before he'd set off from the city. Yue Fei had said to immediately run and return to the city if he faced any enemies that seemed to lack care for their own lives. These awakened soldiers, as Yue Fei called them, were capable of feats that staggered belief, and to kill these men would cost a heavy price.

"What should we do, sir?"

En grimaced. "Have the latter half of the men turn back and kill off the attacking men. You and the officer shall take command. I'll kill Baron myself."

"Yes, sir."

The army split into two, and half surrounded Officer Phillips and his men.

"What? You think a thousand men will be enough to stop us?" Officer Phillips laughed towards the heavens as he watched the enemy forces split up. "Everyone, heed my words! You are not allowed to die until you have personally slain ten enemy soldiers, I'll personally kill fifty myself, so none of you have excuse to be lazy!"

His soldiers shouted "Hoo-ah!!" at the top of their lungs in unison.

In the end, Officer Phillips tore his way through twenty enemy soldiers before being stabbed in the back and falling off his horse, a lifeless corpse. This demonic last stand of unparalleled strength had terrified all those present. In all, over four hundred of Lieutenant En's forces had died to wipe out the hundred enemies. It was indeed as Yue Fei had said — it definitely would've been better to just run.

Officer Gordon grimaced as he looked at the bodies strewn on the ground. "The lieutenant will not be happy about this." He signaled to his men, and they formed into an organized formation and rode off in the direction they'd been chasing in earlier, with the fear of Officer Phillips' men still in their hearts.