"It goes without saying, this is after all a military camp of fifty thousand n and heavily guarded," Fan Cun recalled. "Once discovered, fifty cavalry could only play a limited role."
Thus, while novels and romances depict night raids as almost magical, defeating the enemy as soon as they are executed, they are in fact a highly difficult military maneuver.
From the re thought to the actual execution, there was a vast distance.
Fan Cun silently rembered his previous failure and planned his route in his mind, just like when he had passed the Cavalry Trial before.
Finally, the sky turned completely dark, clouds covered the moon, leaving only the distant camp dimly lit by firelight.
"Move!"
Following Fan Cun’s command, he gripped a branch in his mouth.
The fifty cavalryn followed him, slowly approaching the camp.
Though their horses’ hooves were wrapped in thick cloth, they would still make noise if they ran at full speed. Moreover, speeding was useless at this point, for once they neared the camp, they still had to avoid traps, pass through caltrop formations, and find weak spots in the wooden fences.
All of this had to be done stealthily.
Fortunately, Ma Anbang was no famous general; he was just a despicable man who backstabbed his teammates, with no significant command skills.
Thus, the camp’s guard was not as tight as expected, and there were many loopholes in the surrounding ditches and wooden fences, allowing Fan Cun and his n to successfully infiltrate the camp.
"Who’s there?"
Just as the fifty cavalryn had managed to crawl over the wooden fence and enter the camp, they were spotted by patrolling soldiers.
With a "whoosh," an arrow struck the chest of a patrolling soldier, toppling him.
"Charge in!"
"Knock over all the firepans, and set the tents on fire!"
"And shout with , ’The Qi Army is coming!’"
Now that they had been discovered, there was no chance to sneak in further. Fan Cun commanded his n to charge directly toward Ma Anbang’s central tent!
Along the way, their loud war cries shook the heavens, the sound of fifty n shouting together traveling far in the quiet night, making it hard for anyone to discern their actual number.
One by one, the firepans used for lighting were knocked over, and the charcoal set the tents ablaze, quickly igniting a fierce fire.
"The Qi Army is coming!"
"A hundred thousand of the Qi Army is coming!"
It was like oil poured on flas, the previously tranquil camp instantly exploded into chaos!
The sleeping soldiers woke up, their expressions filled with utter panic.
Since the outermost ring contained the soldiers’ tents, to reach the central command, they either had to bypass these tents and take the main roads of the camp, or just plow straight through.
Of course, Fan Cun chose to plow straight through.
This was the shortest way, and it also created the maximum chaos!
Several soldiers, barely awake from their sleep, hadn’t even realized what was happening before they were trampled by the iron hooves of the charging horses.
Fan Cun, wielding his Longsword, effortlessly stabbed and killed several soldiers who had stood up to grab their weapons.
This ti, to maximize his combat effectiveness, he had chosen a talent that mastered swordsmanship, so wielding this treasured sword felt as natural as using his own limbs.
"Qi Army!"
"Where is this Qi Army from!"
"Run—run fast—"
Soldiers awakened from their dreams also began to scream in extre fear, adding to the chaos.
Fan Cun rushed towards the central command tent, reckless of the consequences. What he hadn’t anticipated was that, amid such a fierce charge, unexpected changes were taking place inside Ma Anbang’s camp.
The camp was in complete disarray!
Fan Cun saw with his own eyes a soldier picking up a knife, but rather than striking him, the soldier turned and slashed at another soldier beside him.
These soldiers under Ma Anbang had started killing each other!
In fact, Fan Cun couldn’t even clearly say who was the first to pick up a knife and start hacking at their own allies, but this panic and chaos were spreading at an unbelievable speed.
As Fan Cun and others broke through the ordinary soldiers’ tents, rushing towards Ma Anbang’s central army, the large fire ignited by the overturned brazier followed them. And imdiately after, there was the crazy howling and mutual slashing of Ma Anbang’s soldiers.
In this hysterical atmosphere, everyone began to grab for anything they could find to attack all moving living things around them; they seed to have all lost their minds and turned into pure beasts!
Even those soldiers who couldn’t get their hands on weapons were biting and fighting each other, creating a scene of utter chaos.
Even Fan Cun was dumbfounded.
What was going on?
He had estimated that his surprise attack would throw the enemy’s camp into chaos, but he had not expected it to devolve to this extent.
Moreover, this phenonon was too bizarre, too unthinkable!
Why weren’t these soldiers chopping at him instead of turning their blades on their own people?
But Fan Cun certainly didn’t have ti to think about these things now. Since his raid had caused even more chaos than anticipated, the most important thing to do at that mont was to rush to the central army and capture Ma Anbang!
Fortunately, the central army tent wasn’t hard to find, and General Chen Shilong also recognized Ma Anbang.
The sky was lit with fire, and the sounds of shouting and screaming ca from all directions, startling Ma Anbang, who was still not completely sober from his sleep.
He hurriedly dressed and grabbed his weapon, but before he could even connect with his personal soldiers, Fan Cun and his n had already stord in.
Two personal soldiers tried to stop them, but they were quickly stabbed dead by Fan Cun, who was proficient with a sword.
Then, Fan Cun kicked Ma Anbang to the ground and everyone else sward in and tied him up.
"Let’s go!"
Fan Cun knew they couldn’t linger, as several Jin generals who had been feasting were nearby.
Although the campsite was chaotic, these Jin soldiers still maintained strong combat capabilities. If they were caught by these Jin generals, it could complicate matters.
They threw Ma Anbang on a horse, and everyone quickly mounted, heading back towards the campsite’s exit.
This ti, the chaotic scene within the entire campsite beca even clearer in Fan Cun’s view.
He even began to wonder: Who exactly were these people fighting?
The fifty cavalryn had already charged to the central army and captured Ma Anbang, but these soldiers were still slashing at each other, wildly swinging their slaughter knives at their peers.
"It actually exploded...," said General Chen Shilong, also in disbelief.
The other mbers of the Rebel Army were also exhilarated; clearly, they hadn’t expected a night raid to be so effective.
But soon, the low-level military officers maintaining order appeared.
These n, leading many soldiers who hadn’t yet gone mad, began to shout to maintain order while directly killing those soldiers who had succumbed to craziness, trying hard not to let the chaos spread further.
"Seize this chance, break out!"
Fan Cun led the charge out of the camp.
Following them closely, the sound of galloping hooves; a group of dozens of Jin heavy-armored cavalry had caught up!
These Jin soldiers, all in heavy armor, looked nacing and formidable, fundantally different from Ma Anbang’s soldiers who crumbled upon contact.
"Damn, how quickly do these guys don their armor? Are they cheating?
"Charge! Shake them off!"
Fan Cun knew very well that although these heavy-armored cavalry were strong in combat, they couldn’t match light cavalry in speed and endurance. If they could just break out of the camp and find a way to shake off these Jin soldiers, this operation would be considered a success.
However, after a fierce fight, Fan Cun, carrying Ma Anbang, was still caught up by the Jin soldiers and ultimately couldn’t escape.
But after being unhorsed by a spear, Fan Cun wasn’t too disheartened.
Because he had discovered that raiding the camp, under certain specific conditions, was feasible!
Next, he just needed to properly review the successes of this operation, solidify the entire process, and then plan a suitable escape route. Perhaps he could achieve what Yu Jiaxuan did years ago with fifty cavalryn when he captured Ma Anbang!
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