Their first instinct, indeed, should have been to flee.

The darkness, however, interfered with the Black Mountain bandits’ ability to assess their enemies.

The resounding drumbeats from all directions, coupled with the sharp weapons of the Northern Army soldiers,

Created a vague and erroneous perception of the enemy’s numbers and strength.

Under this misconception, the elite forces among the attackers were magnified, amplifying the strength of the entire raiding party.

What constituted elite forces?

It was none other than Dian Wei, whom Qiao Yan had entrusted to Cheng Li’s command!

Despite Bao Hong having spent some time in Le Ping County, gaining some insight into the prowess of this stalwart warrior by Qiao Yan’s side,

Seeing Dian Wei charge forward at Cheng Li’s command, delaying his attack until Bao Hong dispersed the enemy ranks, was truly astonishing.

Dian Wei, wielding his weapon with fierce determination, seemed to see no difference between the Black Mountain bandits carrying sacks of grain and mere paper dolls.

It left Bao Hong speechless.

He couldn’t help but imagine how advantageous it would be to have such a fierce warrior under his command…

But now was clearly not the time for distraction.

With Dian Wei leading the charge, and the significant advantage of close combat, Bao Hong could focus on targeting the bandit leader, Zhang Niujiao.

Ordinarily, identifying the leader among thieves in such nighttime conditions would be challenging.

Yet Zhang Niujiao had traversed the battlefield twice before Bao Hong’s eyes, and with deliberate attention to detail,

There was no mistaking his appearance.

At this moment, there was no need to worry about accidental harm.

After all, Zhang Niujiao’s men had not received any panicked orders to abandon their grain sacks.

This distinctive feature undoubtedly clarified the situation for both sides amidst the chaos.

Perhaps it wasn’t even necessary for them to abandon the sacks; it wouldn’t change the significant disparity in weaponry between the two sides.

This was precisely why Qiao Yan had chosen Bao Hong’s soldiers for the ambush instead of relying on the spontaneously formed defense force in Le Ping County.

While they might have had more numbers, they wouldn’t have been able to achieve such a striking impact at this moment.

With Dian Wei’s double halberds leading the charge, in the absence of a solid formation to block his advance, his unstoppable momentum was even more apparent.

Despite the distance from Zhang Niujiao, it seemed as though his lethal weapons were within striking distance.

Zhang Niujiao was never an exceptional commander; at best, he had some foresight in rallying people to join his cause and maintained good relations with his subordinates.

But in the current situation, such advantages clearly rendered him powerless.

It doesn’t make any sense.

In the clash between the two armies, one side suffered significant casualties early on.

It was already a bad situation with signs of defeat.

Moreover, the commander couldn’t quickly issue orders to rally the troops and mount an effective counterattack.

This is a big no-no in warfare.

This undoubtedly made the advantage of Bao Hong’s side even more apparent.

In the mountains at this moment, perhaps facing imminent crisis, there was only Chu Yan left who could keep a cool head and think clearly.

He was prepared to support Zhang Niujiao with his troops.

Sun Qing and Wang Dang, who had joined him, wanted to take responsibility for transporting food but ended up under Zhang Niujiao’s command.

Now, as Bao Hong’s forces were breaking through, they were among the routed troops.

Chu Yan had only eight hundred soldiers selected from his own three thousand, ready to support Zhang Niujiao at any time on the mountain pass.

After Bao Hong and Dian Wei’s forces broke through, Zhang Niujiao was unsettled, but Chu Yan remained composed.

He immediately planned to lead his men down the mountain path to provide support.

However, before he could go far, from his vantage point above, he clearly saw not only Bao Hong’s forces acting as if they were unopposed but also a considerable number of people streaming out from the breached gates of Le Ping County, in support of their side.

In the blink of an eye, Chu Yan found it difficult to accurately assess the enemy’s numbers, but he could see torches and lanterns lighting up, forming signals in the night indicating the presence of these troops.

It was hard for him to determine when these people had gathered there.

Perhaps they had been ready to confront the moment Zhang Niujiao’s men appeared in the county.

The lax security earlier, allowing free passage in and out, was simply a ploy to lure the enemy!

But now, such thoughts were meaningless.

All he could see was the fiery dragon ascending the mountain pass, with the overwhelming force of armed men directly swallowing up the retreating troops.

Meanwhile, in the distance, the commotion inevitably drew some of his attention.

Dian Wei, the fierce warrior, had already reached Zhang Niujiao.

Though Chu Yan didn’t suspect any cheating in terms of combat prowess, the scene before him—the scattered grain bags, the thousand-plus troops cut off and then pursued from behind, even Zhang Niujiao himself confronted by the formidable warrior—made Chu Yan realize that his priority wasn’t to risk going to their aid and have more people perish.

Instead, it was to swiftly withdraw from the area and preserve as many forces as possible.

This was precisely why he had chosen the Taihang Mountains as his operational base!

The pursuit in the mountains was far from easy.

Escaping and then gradually regaining strength was not an impossible task.

Chu Yan’s assessment of the situation prompted him to give an immediate order.

“Abandon the supply carts!”

At this moment, worrying about plundering spoils would undoubtedly be pointless and would only burden them.

“Move—”

He had intended to say “south,” but in the still dim and uncertain night, a fleeting flash of light suddenly appeared in the southern direction.

Although the light flashed for just a moment, it made Chu Yan extremely alert.

Little did he know, it was simply a signal previously sent to inform Qiao Yan of the arrival of the Black Mountain Bandits, now being reused.

He only knew that there had been an ambush on the middle road earlier, and now it seemed like there was a well-prepared force in the county, indicating that there might be another ambush waiting for them on their return route.

Of course, there was indeed an ambush, but not a significant one—just enough to delay them.

But Chu Yan couldn’t discern this at the moment.

He immediately changed his command: “Head north!”

The Taihang Mountains had eight strategic passes, and they were currently near the Jingxing Pass.

Heading north, there were still mountain ranges extending, with three more passes. If they went north, they could still hide in the mountains and then return to Changshan County, finding an opportunity to go back to where they were stationed before.

Chu Yan’s plan was well thought out.

In fact, his adaptability would rank among the top even among the remnants of the Yellow Turbans.

But unfortunately…

Almost simultaneously, while some young men left from the southern gate with the aim of ridding the city of thieves and chasing the food-stealing group,

Another group, led by Zhao Yun, left from the eastern gate and headed straight up the Snow Pit Ridge road.

This was a road that was somewhat easier to traverse due to frequent use.

Because these young men were familiar with the local area, even in the darkness, their climbing speed showed no signs of slowing.

They managed to arrive at the forefront of the Hengling Mountain Road, also known as the place called “Phoenix Mountain” by Qiao Yan, before Chu Yan.

If it weren’t nighttime, perhaps Chu Yan and his men could scatter into the surrounding narrow paths.

But under these conditions, to avoid stepping into any pitfalls, their most suitable retreat route remained the same.

However, before Chu Yan could even let out a sigh of relief due to the diminishing sounds of the pursuing troops behind him, the situation of troops charging out from the middle of the enemy lines repeated itself.

There were no drums or gongs used for confusing judgment and enhancing the force’s presence, but a young man armed came forth with great force, his silver spear sweeping straight towards Chu Yan.

Amidst the chaos caused by the momentary confusion in the ranks, Chu Yan heard a remarkably clear voice saying, “Changshan’s Zhao Yun is here!”

Zhao Yun?

Being fellow townsmen, Chu Yan was familiar with Zhao Yun to some extent.

How could he not know Zhao Yun’s name?

However, there was no possibility of recruiting him.

Instead, due to his considerable skill, Zhao Yun had managed to protect his own Zhao family village quite effectively.

Chu Yan never expected Zhao Yun to be here.

Even more surprising was that Zhao Yun had become the leader of this group of Leping County civilians.

In fact, in terms of strength, this group of people who charged out was probably weaker compared to Bao Hong’s forces seen earlier.

However, considering that those who retreated with Chu Yan were likely influenced by what they had witnessed before, even though there hadn’t been any significant casualties in this brief clash, both sides could be considered evenly matched.

Yet, in terms of momentum, the group led by Zhao Yun was clearly superior to the Black Mountain Bandits.

Not to mention Leping still had Zhao Yun!

Even though this young man didn’t have a good horse assisting him—of course, it wasn’t suitable for cavalry warfare on the mountain pass—it didn’t hinder him in the slightest as he approached with his spear, resembling a shooting star.

Chu Yan instinctively raised the knife in his hand, and a burst of sparks bloomed from the blade, carrying an exceptionally formidable force.

As the opponent attacked, they also threw torches onto the mountain pass, creating a chaotic atmosphere.

At this moment, the sharp light reflected off the silver spear in Chu Yan’s eyes clearly.

In the face of such fierce momentum, his poorly coordinated troops had no time to execute any encircling maneuvers.

The only one who could directly confront Zhao Yun was Chu Yan himself.

But he… even if Chu Yan didn’t want to admit it, he couldn’t change the fact.

He truly wasn’t Zhao Yun’s match!

After Zhao Yun flicked the knife from Chu Yan’s hand with a single spear thrust, Chu Yan had only two options: either face death head-on or surrender.

There clearly wasn’t a third way out.

After being securely tied up, he and his severely injured subordinates were taken into Leping County.

Due to the lack of space in front of the county office, they were taken directly to the granary.

Despite how unexpectedly abrupt the end of the battle was, by this time, dawn was breaking.

Chu Yan could now clearly see what he hadn’t noticed when he first entered the city.