Chapter 2722: Surprise Attack I

Manbao thought about it and selected ten students who were quick and strong to follow, uh, four boys and six girls.

The rest were left to Imperial Doctor Lu.

The army was marching quickly, and Manbao rode a horse, while the ten students squeezed into two carts carrying grain and medicinal supplies.

Seeing them in discomfort, Manbao rode her horse alongside, clip-clopping along while scolding them, “Back in school, I told you to learn horseback riding, but who took it to heart? Now you know it’s tough, right? If you were good at riding, I could’ve gotten a few horses for you to ride.”

Wen Tiandong and the others were embarrassed. He prided himself on being able to ride a horse, but last time when following the army, the horses around ran a bit fast, and he got scared, almost falling off the horse. After that, the army no longer assigned horses to the medical units.

Wen Tiandong’s riding skills were considered decent, yet he was like this. So, no need to mention others, leading to the revocation of the medical unit’s horse allocation, which Manbao couldn’t argue against.

However, they were technical personnel. Although Zhou Man occasionally had them run with medicine chests following the army, in actual quick marches and camp relocations, they had carts to sit in, which was better than the soldiers who had to run on their own two legs without any discrepancies.

Manbao rode on the side. Apart from feeling the cold wind on her face, she felt no discomfort. She spoke to them, “Once we return to the capital, you must increase the number of riding lessons; at least three sessions every ten days, and we must raise the exam standards.”

Everyone, including Zhou Liru, couldn’t help but sigh, feeling that time was not enough.

Manbao glared at Zhou Liru. When she went to the Western Regions, her riding skills were also mediocre, unable to control the horse when its speed increased.

Manbao kicked the horse’s belly, letting it run ahead, no longer focusing solely on them.

They departed in the afternoon, marched quickly, and only stopped to rest and eat dry rations at dusk, before continuing on.

This was the first time Wen Tiandong and the others participated in a quick march. Previously, it was about territorial siege, whose speed wasn’t that fast, and their medical units were at the back, thus marching at a slower pace.

In a quick march, not only them, even Zhou Man felt exhausted, not to mention the running soldiers.

But they endured well, keeping in the rear without falling behind.

They marched urgently through the night, with scouts ahead probing the route, going until after midnight when scouts returned quickly to report: “General, there’s fighting at Anshi City’s west city gate.”

Heli’s eyes brightened, asking: “How far is it from here to Anshi City?”

“About ten miles.”

“Great, pass the order to rest here,” then finding the deputy, he said: “You lead a unit, rest for two quarter-hours, then march quickly towards Anshi City, and upon arrival, join the battle directly.”

The deputy was stunned before replying: “But General, we’ve been marching urgently all night; I’m afraid the soldiers are exhausted.”

“But the opportunity is rare; the west city gate of Anshi City might open only this once. I’ll lead the cavalry for immediate support,” said Heli after a pause, still declaring: “Don’t delay. Once we take Anshi City, I will ensure enough rest time for them.”

Deputy: … ‘The premise is that they’ll still be alive then?’

But he still agreed.

Military orders are as imposing as mountains; they must comply as it’s an order.

Heli immediately turned to find Zhou Man, who was sitting on the ground, a bit drowsy, “Lord Zhou.”

Manbao awoke, looking up at him, “General, what’s the matter?”

“We need to move ahead. Lord Zhou, who will you assign to accompany us?”

Manbao immediately got up, “I’ll go with you.”

After considering, she pointed at Wen Tiandong and Zhou Liru, saying: “You two will come with me.”

Then she smiled at Heli, asking: “Please lend two horses to them, General.”

Heli responded with a smile, immediately ordering two horses to be lent to them.

Manbao instructed: “Check the medicine chests, tweezers, knives, needles and threads, needle pouches, medicine bags…”

“Bring all the hemostatic pills, healing balm, and hemostatic medicine bags we made earlier.”

At such times, likely there won’t be time to set up a medical tent, fetch water, and boil medicine, so pre-made medicines must be used.

The students got moving, soon finding the items, totaling four large chests. Manbao frowned, having no choice but to find Heli to have him distribute the items, taking them together to the destination.

She told several students: “After this battle, we’ll sew some large sacks specifically for storing medicinal supplies so it’s easier to retrieve.”

Su Banxia, dazedly: “Sacks need to be sewn?”

“Of course, they hold more and won’t fall; a sack that’s just wrapped in a piece of cloth isn’t a real sack.”

Everyone: … ‘Then what have we been carrying all along?’

Dividing the items, Manbao also took some, all stuffed into cloth bags, which can be draped over the horse’s back. Both sides of the bag can hold quite a lot.

Heli found about ten people, and everyone distributed the contents of the four large chests.

Finally, after supplementing supplies, snacking on two pieces of dry rations, and taking a sip of water, they mounted their horses and left.

Manbao also patted her face to wake herself up, then mounted her horse.

Heli specifically had her follow closely, for better protection, lest she trip while riding. Not a good time for that.

The night was dark.

Ten miles is not near but also not far, taking less than two quarter-hours on horseback, before they heard clashing swords and cries of battle.

The west city gate of Anshi City was aflame, both gates wide open, with fighting happening in the bridge tunnels of the city gate.

Goguryeo soldiers atop the city walls noticed the enemy army, shouting: “Their reinforcements have arrived. Close the city gate, hurry—”

Wanting to close the gate was impossible; General Ashina, along with Xue Bei and Xue Gui, were there at the gate. They didn’t advance but held firmly at the gate.

As long as they defended the gate, waiting for the main army to arrive…

Heli didn’t slow the horse’s pace, drawing out his long knife, thrusting forward, shouting: “Lads, hold the gate, take Anshi City and present it to His Majesty, charge—”

The soldiers then rushed past Zhou Man, Zhou Liru, and Wen Tiandong, galloping towards the gate.

Manbao, seeing the momentum, couldn’t help but yell, “Don’t kill the wrong people; we have red bands on our sleeves…”

No wrong kills, when General Ashina led the charge into the city, they took off the helmets on their heads. Indeed, in the heat of the fight, the arm bands are easily overlooked, but the head helmet is quite noticeable.

In an instant, only Manbao and about ten soldiers carrying medicine remained, tasked with protecting Zhou Man and others.

Everyone looked up towards the walls, waiting for them to gain control of the walls, for the gate to belong to them.

Heli pierced through like a sharp blade while Xue Gui, seeing reinforcements arrive, no longer passively defended, shook his spear and charged into the gate; known for his bravery, he could spear two in a thrust, and being mounted, instantly cleared the surrounding area, creating a path.

Heli immediately followed the path, leading people in, slashing in before turning back to fight his way out. Seeing this, General Ashina led people to guard the rear, preventing him from being surrounded.