Chapter 128: The Fire Descending from the Heavens

Seeing that Zhang Chi was truly determined to confront the Hu army head-on, General Fang, who served directly under the Inspector of Yizhou, immediately protested: "Commander, the Inspector of Yizhou had a prior agreement that Yizhou troops would only be used to create a display of strength, not to engage in actual combat."

Upon hearing this, Qin Bo’s eyes turned blood-red with rage. With a formidable enemy at the gates, these men from Shu still harbored such selfishness. The Hu army already vastly outnumbered them; if they could not stand united, how could they possibly resist?

Zhang Chi had fewer than one hundred thousand men in total, and the Yizhou contingent alone accounted for fifty thousand. If these fifty thousand refused to fight, Zhang Chi would be forced to face three hundred thousand Hu cavalry with only thirty or forty thousand infantry. How could such a battle be won?

Seeing General Fang taking the lead, the commanders from the various Yizhou counties revealed their cowardly nature, chiming in one after another: "Commander, you cannot blame General Fang. The Hu army has three hundred thousand cavalry, while we have fewer than one hundred thousand infantry. The disparity is immense. To insist on a head-on collision now is no different than a mantis trying to stop a chariot."

Qin Bo was incensed by these words and roared: "Babbling before the battle and shaking the morale of the army—this is a crime punishable by death!"

Qin Bo stepped forward and gripped the throat of the officer who had just spoken. At such a time, they should have been working together to repel the foreign invaders; who could remain calm when faced with such officers?

Unexpectedly, Zhang Chi waved his hand, signaling Qin Bo to release the officer. He said, "General Fang is right. I did indeed promise the Inspector of Yizhou that the Yizhou forces would only assist in boosting our prestige, not enter the fray."

Qin Bo was still indignant: "But..."

"To each his own, why force it?" Zhang Chi interrupted him, then turned to General Fang and said coldly: "If General Fang wishes to serve the country, join us in the fight. If General Fang is afraid of death, I do not necessarily need your fifty thousand men."

*Without my Yizhou troops, I want to see how you manage to repel three hundred thousand Hu cavalry with your remaining thirty or forty thousand men!* General Fang sneered: "Since the Commander already has a contingency plan, whether or not my Yizhou troops take part is of no consequence."

"Fine," Zhang Chi replied. "Since your Yizhou troops are unwilling to fight, stand aside and watch how we handle this!"

The Yizhou commanders were only too happy to oblige. They immediately organized their men and retreated to a distant hill to set up camp alongside General Fang. Before departing, General Fang cupped his hands and laughed: "In that case, we shall observe the decisive battle from the high mountains. I wish the Commander a resounding victory."

Though he said this, General Fang was actually hoping to see Zhang Chi fail. He simply did not believe that Zhang Chi could annihilate hundreds of thousands of Hu cavalry with only a few tens of thousands of infantry.

As the Yizhou troops withdrew, Qin Bo looked at the remaining forces with a face full of concern, yet Zhang Chi remained calm and composed. Ding Yizhi consoled Qin Bo: "Prefect Qin, there is no need to worry. My elder brother looks entirely at ease; he must have a plan already mapped out."

Despite what Ding Yizhi said, even he had no idea what Zhang Chi had up his sleeve. Zhang Chi had ordered his men to deploy along the terrain within the valley. Did the young master truly have such confidence that he could annihilate the three hundred thousand-strong Hu army here in one fell swoop?

...

Night fell. San Tong’s vanguard was positioned five miles from the Hu army, on high alert. Even San Tong felt uneasy about the prospect of raiding the camp in the dead of night.

Just then, a soldier reported that Du Ximing had arrived from the rear, bringing with him the "tools" for the raid.

San Tong was deeply puzzled. A camp raid was a camp raid—didn't it just mean charging into the enemy camp to fight to the death? What kind of special equipment could be needed?

When Du Ximing arrived, San Tong saw that the "tools" were actually baskets and bags full of bats, along with a large quantity of tung oil.

Du Ximing whispered Zhang Chi’s plan into San Tong’s ear. As he listened, San Tong grew increasingly delighted, slapping his thigh repeatedly and exclaiming: "A brilliant plan! A brilliant plan!"

Afterward, Du Ximing relayed Zhang Chi’s orders to Han Xiang and Zhao Qian: "San Tong will lead the cavalry to raid the camp at the third watch. You two are to remain in the rear; as soon as you see the enemy camp burst into flames, beat the drums loudly. If the fire seems to be contained, stop the drumming and retreat to the northwest, where there will be people to meet you."

He then told San Tong: "You are to lead the cavalry and set the fires first. As soon as you hear the drums, launch your assault. Once the drums stop, retreat immediately toward the northwest valley."

Zhao Qian and Han Xiang accepted the orders, though Han Xiang remained worried about San Tong. Zhang Chi’s plan was clever, but it had a fatal flaw: San Tong only had three thousand cavalry. How could they get close enough to the Hu barracks to set them ablaze?

San Tong, however, was in high spirits and comforted Han Xiang: "Little sister, don't worry about your big brother. My brother Zhang has already taught me a marvelous plan; I guarantee we will be safe. Just follow the instructions."

San Tong ordered his cavalry to use tung oil to turn their arrows into fire arrows, and each horse was equipped with a large bucket of tung oil and a large basket of bats. When the third watch arrived, they rode straight toward the enemy camp.

To avoid alerting the enemy, the cavalry rode with gags in their mouths and bits in the horses' mouths. Moving stealthily through the night, they approached within a few hundred meters of the camp and used flint to ignite the bats in their baskets one by one.

Zhang Chi had spent the journey capturing bats, scouring several caves and bringing back countless numbers. Each rider carried a basket filled with hundreds of them; three thousand cavalrymen were carrying a total of seven or eight hundred thousand bats.

These bats, apart from their wings, were coated in tung oil. Because they had no fur, the fire burned them to the skin instantly. Driven by pain, they flew erratically. In a matter of moments, seven or eight hundred thousand flaming bats filled the sky—a truly spectacular sight.

The reason they did not coat the wings with tung oil was that the oil would form a hard shell upon drying, which would hinder the bats' ability to fly.

In the dead of night, a million flaming bats descended from the sky, truly frightening the Hu sentries. Everyone thought: "What are these things?"

It was no wonder they were confused—how could so many burning creatures suddenly rain down from the sky? These things could fly, yet they emitted high-pitched, mouse-like squeaks.

The million flaming bats illuminated the night as if it were daylight. Many Hu soldiers were transfixed by the "miracle," staring in awe.

The bats, lacking fur, were in agony from the burns and could not fly far. They fell to the ground, igniting numerous tents.

Before the Hu soldiers could grasp what was happening, San Tong led his cavalry charging in like a whirlwind.

"Set the fire! Set the fire!" San Tong roared.

These three thousand cavalrymen were no ordinary soldiers; they were "Commoners of the Cold Gate" who had mastered martial arts. They were highly skilled, firing their arrows with precision and speed. In the blink of an eye, they had charged into the camp, splashing the tung oil they carried everywhere.

With the flaming bats falling from the sky and the ground soaked in tung oil, the fire became uncontrollable in an instant, roaring into a massive conflagration.

Han Xiang and Zhao Qian, watching from the rear, were left stunned. How could they have possibly imagined this? First, they saw countless fire-birds appearing in the sky, and then, in the blink of an eye, the enemy camp was a sea of flames.

Zhao Qian, a descendant of a famous general, had never seen such a formation; he was too excited to speak.

Finally, Han Xiang gave a sharp command: "Beat the drums, the whole army!"

The Hu army had been deep in sleep, but they were suddenly jolted awake by the thunderous sound of drums. Upon waking, they were even more terrified by the sight of the fire spreading everywhere, with countless fire-birds flying through the flames, setting more areas ablaze wherever they landed. In a flash, the fire was blooming across the entire Hu camp.

Seeing the fire take hold, just as Zhang Chi had predicted, San Tong was overjoyed: "The fire is set! Stop firing! Everyone, concentrate and charge!"

The three thousand cavalry closed ranks. With San Tong at the vanguard, his spear pointed the way, the cavalry charged. The Hu soldiers, many of whom were disoriented by the fire—their horses spooked and stampeding—could not possibly mount a defense.

Moreover, the Hu had no idea how many people were raiding the camp; they assumed such a massive fire could not have been started by a small force. With no one to command them in the chaos, the soldiers threw down their armor and fled, slaughtered by San Tong’s three thousand cavalry.

This chain of events happened in an instant. From the release of the fire-bats to the camp being engulfed in flames, very little time had passed.

When Yao Shuode rushed out in his armor, the camp was already in total chaos. He demanded sternly: "Who was the general on night watch? What is going on?"

Such a disaster had occurred, yet the night watch general had failed to make any preparations—that was a capital offense.

The night watch general was equally baffled. He couldn't fathom how so many fire-birds had suddenly descended from the sky. With Yao Shuode questioning him, he could only answer, trembling: "The fire fell from the sky, General. I do not know why."

"Fell from the sky? How can a fire fall from the sky!" Yao Shuode’s voice was harsh and severe.

The general was on the verge of tears, but the fire really had come from above. He couldn't understand it himself—how could a sky full of fire-birds suddenly appear and set everything alight? Was it truly Heaven’s will to destroy their army?

Yao Shuode had led troops for many years and did not believe in fires falling from the sky. Enraged, he said: "As the general on night watch, you were negligent in your duties. With such a massive fire, you failed to organize a rescue and instead spread these rumors to shake the army's morale. If I do not execute you, how can I command the troops!"

Without waiting for the general to plead his case, Yao Shuode drew his waist sword and executed him on the spot.

The night watch general had spoken the truth—it really was a sky full of fire-birds that had descended—a phenomenon he had never even heard of. To his dying breath, he could not understand how such a once-in-a-millennium event had happened to him...