Chapter 152: Defeat, A Pyrrhic Victory!

"Anyone who dares to retreat will be executed! Anyone who speaks of retreating will be executed!"

Man Chong rushed forward, cutting down several men in succession before lifting his blade and shouting angrily.

To his utter astonishment, Shi Huan had been killed so quickly. As a major general, instead of commanding his troops, he had chosen to lock horns with Chu Feng—what sheer foolishness.

"Charge back with me!"

Man Chong attempted to rally the routed soldiers.

Yet, he was destined to be disappointed. These fleeing men were not his subordinates to begin with, and by now, their courage had completely evaporated. Since they could not escape this way, they scattered in all directions.

Man Chong frowned. A bunch of trash!

He had long since told Cao Cao that the Qingzhou Army needed strict military discipline. While relying on plunder and slaughter could maintain combat effectiveness, the outcome became completely unpredictable once they encountered truly formidable opponents.

"General, General Shi has already fallen in battle, and Chu Feng's valor is unstoppable. Perhaps we should retreat as well!" said a subordinate officer near Man Chong, his voice trembling as he swallowed hard.

Man Chong frowned, casting a glance back at the deputy commander.

It seemed the most dreaded event had come to pass.

Chu Feng's prestige from this battle would be monumental. Once the dust settled, if he survived, the mere name of Chu Feng alone would be enough to strike terror into the hearts of most Cao soldiers.

*Clang!*

His battle saber leapt from its scabbard, instantly taking the deputy's head. Man Chong swept his gaze across the rest and shouted, "Whoever dares speak of retreating again, I will execute with my own hands!"

This single strike shocked the hundreds of men under his command, forcing them to steady their resolve.

In the blink of an eye, Chu Feng had already charged into range.

Though these hundreds of men lacked the time to form proper ranks, their high morale and fighting spirit were their greatest assets.

"Kill! Follow me to break the enemy!"

Chu Feng had completely lost himself to the bloodlust, lifting his halberd and roaring with a hoarse voice.

The heaven-shaking battle cry genuinely terrified the Cao soldiers, for they had witnessed with their own eyes how Chu Feng had shattered countless military formations.

With only a few hundred men left on their side, they feared they could not hold him off!

The iron cavalry thundered forward, Chu Feng's halberd dancing as every sweep claimed a life. Xu Chu gritted his teeth, his heavy saber sweeping wide to clear out patches of enemies in his wake.

Behind them, two hundred elite cavalry surged past,

directly scattering the hundreds of defenders.

In practically a single clash, the enemy contingent collapsed.

This filled Man Chong with profound frustration. Perhaps those men under Chu Feng had crawled out of piles of corpses and thus knew no fear of life and death, whereas his own troops, despite their high morale, had their courage broken and were now like startled birds at the sound of a bowstring.

At the very first encounter, every unit fell back; not a single person dared to fight to the death.

In the end, Man Chong could only slip away with a few dozen men. He had originally thought his hundreds of soldiers were all elite troops, but now they seemed no better than that bunch of trash.

Damn it, their guts had long since been frightened out of them by the Chu army.

Upon his chariot, Cao Cao slumped downward.

Shi Huan had been killed, Man Chong had been defeated, and he had no one left to deploy beside him, save for a few hundred personal guards. Chu Feng was clearly about to charge right up to him.

Just moments ago, he had declared he would rather die in battle than retreat, but now...

"My lord, quickly withdraw and regroup to fight again!" Xun You urged anxiously.

"Agreed!" Cao Cao consented without hesitation.

With that, Cao Cao stepped down from his chariot, vaulted onto a horse, and Guo Jia drew his scholar's sword, shouting, "The lord's orders: the entire army falls back, withdraw at once!"

At these words, the sounding gongs rang out.

In the center, Cao Cao's army began to pull back, and Cao Cao himself, accompanied by his civil and military officials, took to panicked flight.

The left and right wings of the Cao army were stunned at first, and then fell into a state of dejection. The central army had genuinely been broken by Chu Feng? Just how ferocious was this man?

Yet for now, they too had to find a way to retreat.

Immediately, the entire Cao army began shouting commands to fall back, retreat!

The rear guard had no idea what was happening, but seeing Cao Cao retreat and finding themselves unable to form any coherent formation, they had no choice but to fall back along with the rest.

Yu Jin was somewhat irritated, but with the commander's banner falling back, it was completely unrealistic for him to stay behind and fight alone. Fortunately, his troops were disciplined and orderly.

He immediately shifted formations and began to withdraw.

Gan Ning and Lü Meng likewise saw Cao Cao's commander's banner retreating and both wore looks of jubilation. They had won—they had actually won! Chu Feng had truly forced Cao Cao to retreat.

"The lord has routed the Cao army! They are defeated, charge!"

Battle cries erupted from both wings as they pursued the retreating enemy, knowing they had to maximize their gains.

Seeing the commander's banner move, Chu Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief. He roared to the armored soldiers behind him, "The Cao army is defeated! The Cao army is defeated! Follow me and kill!"

Chu Feng felt a surge of renewed strength welling up throughout his entire body.

Having gone to such great lengths to defeat Cao Cao, he could not let him retreat back to his camp so easily; otherwise, wouldn't this battle be a huge loss for him? He had to press the pursuit relentlessly.

"Charge!"

Behind him, hundreds of infantry and cavalry shouted in unison.

When an army is defeated, it collapses like a mountain sliding into the sea. Fewer than one in ten Cao soldiers dared to stay behind to fight to the death; all of them fled for their lives, descending into utter chaos as countless men discarded their armor and weapons in a desperate bid to run faster.

Chu Feng rode at the very forefront, initially intending to pursue Cao Cao directly. Yet, upon second thought, Cao Cao was fleeing far too quickly, and if he pressed deep into enemy territory alone, grave danger would await him.

Instead, he kept up the chase from behind, brandishing his battle banner and great halberd to cut down escaping Cao soldiers. Many who were too slow to flee even chose to surrender outright.

***

At dusk, along both sides of the official road.

Chu Feng reined in his horse and halted. Several miles ahead lay the camp of the Cao army. Having led his force in relentless pursuit all the way here, the road was practically flowing with blood.

The only regret was that Cao Cao had escaped.

At that moment, Gan Ning and Lü Meng rode up, their expressions glowing. Though their armor was stained with blood, they were immensely excited—the spoils of this battle were extraordinarily bountiful.

"My lord, this battle saw us slay no fewer than seven or eight thousand of the enemy, capturing over two thousand more. The weapons collected along the road are countless, quite enough to equip several thousand men," Gan Ning reported excitedly.

With that, he took a close look at Chu Feng. His armor had long since been dyed a dark crimson, and several enemy generals' heads hung from his saddle—all personal kills.

As for the infantry and cavalry behind him, there were only a little over three hundred men left.

The blades and swords in their hands had long since been rolled and notched from heavy hacking, and these were likely already their third or fourth weapons of the day.

These men now carried an aura—the terrifying, awe-inspiring presence born only from surviving a mountain of corpses.

Gan Ning and Lü Meng drew deep breaths. This slaughter had been dozens of times more grueling than they had imagined. Out of four to five thousand men, only three hundred remained.

A single battle, and nine-tenths were wiped out!

To retain only one in ten and still fight to the bitter end—such fierce determination was likely unparalleled under heaven.

"Every man in this battle is a hero. Bury them properly and compile the casualty rolls. I gave them my word to provide for their immediate families; we must not let their hearts grow cold!"

Chu Feng's voice was faint, yet resolute.

As soon as he finished speaking, he tumbled straight out of his saddle.

There was no help for it; he was utterly exhausted. He had no idea how he had managed to hold on until now. At this moment, all he wanted was to sleep deeply.

"My lord! My lord!"

Gan Ning and Lü Meng instantly rushed forward, shouting out in alarm.

Xu Chu slumped onto the ground, having the army physician bandage his wounds as he said, "Don't worry, the lord has simply exhausted his strength. A few days of rest will set him right!"

Seeing that the fighting was finally over, more than a dozen of the remaining three hundred men collapsed to the ground, dead on the spot. It was already a miracle that they had walked this far.

The rest simply lay where they fell, motionless.

They could not even lift their arms, and their thighs were aching and swollen with fatigue. They too had exhausted their every ounce of strength. Drifting off to sleep right then, some were so utterly spent that they quietly passed away, never to wake again.

In this first major engagement, the Chu army won a pyrrhic victory.

Yet from that day onward, a legend about Chu Feng spread through the Cao army camp, hailing him as a divine general of awe-inspiring might, completely unstoppable.