Chapter 1 All Is Ready

Liang Cheng rode his horse to Zheng Boye and saluted,

"My lord, everything is ready, please give the order."

Zheng Boye nodded slightly and said,

"Begin."

Lightly, just a single sentence.

The Wild Man King needed to give a speech to the wild men before the great battle, so that their brains would be affected by excitement, so that they could overcome the instinctive fear of death in a short time, and make them war beasts who were not afraid of death and injury.

In fact, Zheng Boye used to do similar things.

Since it was a totem, since it was a mascot, it always had to come out for a walk and a talk before the war, to strengthen the soldiers' beliefs and instill some murderous aura in them.

But,

now,

it's not needed.

Because the soldiers of Xuehai Pass were already mature.

The Blind Man's frequent conferences, Liang Cheng's strict training, the Xuehai Pass lifestyle, the sense of belonging, honor, and everything else, had made this army no longer need to be injected with chicken blood before the war.

They knew what they had to do and what they should do.

In the future, unless they encountered extremely critical situations, Zheng Boye would not need to shout slogans in front to boost morale.

The scene of drinking, smashing bowls, and swearing oaths,

often happened to Jianghu (martial world) vagabonds or mobs.

The real elite,

the real iron cavalry,

where the general's order points,

will surely be invincible!

"Your subordinate obeys!"

Liang Cheng was still in command of the soldiers. This battle was of great importance, and the various armies of Great Yan were supporting him. He must not make any mistakes.

Therefore, it was safer to leave it to Liang Cheng.

Moreover, attacking a stronghold was not like a field battle. With Zheng Boye's current level, he was not afraid of field battle command, but when attacking a stronghold, it was often necessary to quickly fine-tune one's own side according to the situation in the opponent's formation.

Therefore,

to put it bluntly,

Zheng Boye, who would not go forward unless it was absolutely necessary and would stay behind with Zuo A'ming and Right Sword Saint,

what command could he give!

Liang Cheng raised his knife, with three flag bearers on each side of him.

"Raise!"

The flags waved.

For a time, the sound of reins being tightened and armor rubbing could be heard, creating a chilling atmosphere.

"Form, open!"

The vanguard began to pick up speed, the middle army followed, and the rear army also began to pick up speed.

In addition, several hundred riders from each wing separated from the formation. Their task was to create pressure on the east and west sides of the military stronghold. If they were left alone, they could lasso the stronghold or simply dismount and climb over, so it was impossible to ignore them. This would also disperse the defenders' forces.

Since ancient times, whether it was attacking a city or a stronghold, there had never been a case of attacking only one side. Surrounding three sides and leaving one open was still surrounding three sides and leaving one open, but when actually attacking, several sides would still be taken care of, only the focus was different.

And if the defenders were really negligent or a loophole was found, a feigned attack could immediately become the main attack.

Zheng Boye rode his Pixiu (mythical wild animal) and stopped in place.

Behind him stood two flag bearers, holding up his flag as the Earl of Pingye.

To the left and right were A'ming and the Sword Saint.

The Sword Saint looked at the scene of the soldiers galloping forward and subconsciously said, "There is actually a big difference between soldiers and soldiers. If I had faced such an iron cavalry under Xuehai Pass in the past..."

"Couldn't kill Gelimu?" Zheng Boye asked with a smile.

"I could still kill him, but I probably wouldn't be able to kill so many wild men, and in the end, I wouldn't be able to come out alive."

To put it bluntly, the wild men were already frightened birds because Xuehai Pass had been occupied, and the ones under Gelimu's command were the wild men's rear army, whose quality was not good. The real elite were taken by the Wild Man King to confront each other on the east bank of Wangjiang River.

Zheng Boye nodded slowly and said,

"I have seen a real iron cavalry besieging master."

Shatuo Queshi was worn down alive by the Northern Garrison's iron cavalry.

It was precisely because of the Shatuo Queshi incident that Zheng Boye realized one thing, that the more elite iron cavalry he had around him, the better!

Simply improving one's own strength and driving the Demon Kings' strength to improve had too much uncertainty, but if there were enough soldiers under one's command, those so-called experts would not be so terrible.

Of course,

the Sword Saint was now on the battlefield by his side, and lived next door when he went home, so there was no need to talk about the sense of security.

The rattan armor soldiers in Yangshan Stronghold were already waiting in battle formation.

The Chu people valued heavy infantry, and the rattan armor soldiers of the Bai Pu Bai family had long been adapted to the terrain on the edge of the Daze (great marsh) to eliminate water bandits. It had just rained a few days ago, and it had only cleared up today, so the mud in the low-lying areas in front of the military stronghold was their favorite way of fighting.

The armor on their bodies was made from a special kind of rattan that grew on the edge of the Daze in Changxi County, which was extremely light and had great toughness. It was also wrapped with a single layer of cloth armor inside, and the defensive power was really not weak. The most important thing was that the light armor allowed them to move and maneuver more easily in the muddy environment.

"Shield!"

"Dong, dong!"

The shield soldiers raised their shields and formed a formation.

In fact, in an infantry square, the real foundation or mainstay was the shield formation. After they laid the foundation, the other arms of the military would be matched around them, front, back, left, and right.

Without a solid shield soldier formation as a support, the entire infantry square would be like a rootless duckweed, unable to stand up at all.

"Spear, advance!"

"Dong dong dong! Dong dong dong! Dong dong dong!"

The spearmen stepped forward, the first row squatted down and raised their spears, and the second row raised their spears.

"Blade, ready!"

"Dong dong dong dong! Dong dong dong dong!"

The swordsmen and axemen stood behind the shield soldiers, wedged between the shield soldiers and the archers. Their role was to step forward and chop down the cavalry after the spearmen had stopped them.

In fact, the swordsmen and axemen were often the most armored and bravest in the square.

Spearmen were more often consumables. They faced the cavalry impact in the front row, and even if they succeeded with their spears, they would probably be knocked away by the galloping warhorses, either dead or disabled.

Then, the swordsmen and axemen would step forward to be responsible for harvesting, and at the same time, if there was no second batch of spearmen to step forward to replenish, the swordsmen and axemen would act as the first line of defense for the next impact.

Therefore, in most armies, spearmen were used as auxiliary soldiers, and sometimes even as laborers, for no other reason than that they were cheap.

Of course, nothing was absolute. It was said that the Zu family army in the southeast of Qian State had more functions in its military formation for spearmen.

But how should I put it,

facing an opponent like Yan State, which was dominated by cavalry, the fate of the first row of spearmen was often destined to be tragic.

Chi Mingyi's rattan armor soldiers were lined up in the camp, because Yangshan Stronghold was originally responsible for the central operation, so unlike the west side, which could rely on the rammed earth wall that was originally planned to be built but was not built, it could not be arranged with several fences and several ditches like the east side.

Because you always had to allow the transported grain, ordnance, and even soldiers to quickly enter and exit from here, so the front door was actually the weakest point of the fortifications.

There was no way around this. It was a military stronghold, not a castle;

Furthermore,

the Yan people did arrive before dusk yesterday, but after they arrived, the Yan people's harassment had not stopped.

Although Chi Mingyi knew that this was probably the Yan people's plan to exhaust their troops, he dared not gamble. What if it was real!

On the battlefield, there were many true and false things, weren't there?

Therefore, the garrison in Yangshan Stronghold basically did not close their eyes last night.

But fortunately, it was only one night, and there were problems, but not too big.

Moreover, the Yan people launched an attack early in the morning. Although this was the time when the soldiers were most tired and sleepy, they could still overcome it. If the Yan people harassed them day and night for a few days, then people would really not be able to stand it.

In fact, Liang Cheng did not want to do this. Obtaining victory at the smallest cost had always been the Xuehai Pass's motto since its small-scale business mentality, but unfortunately, the Yan army did not have enough time.

"Men, let the Yan dogs taste the power of our Changxi men!"

"Dong!"

"Drink!"

"Dong!"

"Drink!"

Waves of shouts accompanied by drumbeats came from the army.

Chi Mingyi was still very satisfied with his side's morale. He was glad that the Yan people attacked early, but he was also puzzled. Logically speaking, he had already lit the wolf smoke as a warning yesterday, and the Great General should have known about it, maybe he was waiting;

But from the morning, after discovering that the Yan people really had the posture to launch an attack, Yangshan Stronghold immediately lit a wolf smoke again and sent messengers to report to the rear.

But for some reason,

it had reached this point,

the Yan people had already eaten breakfast, had already formed their formation, and had already launched an attack,

why was there no sign of friendly forces?

It should be known that Yangshan Stronghold was not isolated and helpless, it was actually being protected in the very center.

"Boom boom boom!!!!!"

The sound of horses' hooves was like thunder, and the aura was astonishing.

It pulled Chi Mingyi's mind back. In any case, although the reinforcements had not arrived, the Yan people were much fewer than expected.

When Jing Renli came a few days ago, he brought the Great General's military order and message. Chi Mingyi had already made psychological preparations to be surrounded by 100,000 Yan troops or even more Yan troops. Now, the Yan army was only a little over 10,000 in scale, and the pressure was not as great as he had imagined.

Furthermore,

hehe,

Chi Mingyi, standing on the watchtower, turned his gaze to the muddy depression in front of the military stronghold.

He knew that once a horse's hoof was stuck in it, it would be extremely easy to sprain a horse's leg. No matter how sharp the Yan people's cavalry was, they would no longer be able to be arrogant in this quagmire.

Immediately,

Chi Mingyi looked at the east and west military strongholds. There, Yan cavalry were also harassing them.

Alas,

Chi Mingyi sighed slightly in his heart,

he still didn't have enough troops.

To be on the safe side, he did not intend to risk letting his rattan armor soldiers take the initiative to attack while the Yan people were trapped in the quagmire. It was still important to protect the camp.

But thinking about it,

the Yan people, who had lost the sharpness of their warhorses and were walking in the mud like old farmers and still had to continue to attack,

would deeply appreciate the power of his Great Chu infantry formation!

The Chu army's drumbeats began to become more and more dense as the Yan army got closer and closer.

The defenders in the stronghold seemed to have even begun to synchronize their breathing at this time. Everyone clenched the spears, swords, axes, or shields in their hands, waiting for the Yan people's impact.

It had to be said that since the Yan people defeated the Qian State's Northern Expeditionary Army a hundred years ago, the Great Yan Iron Cavalry had become an indelible shadow pressing on the heads of the other countries in the East.

Chi Mingyi silently clenched his teeth, raised his arm, and was ready to give the order at any time.

However,

just as the Chu army was ready,

suddenly,

the Yan army charging in front actually began to turn.

The vanguard directly split into two columns and began to detour back.

The Chu army, which had adjusted its spirit and energy to deal with the Yan people's impact, now really had the feeling of staggering after putting all its strength into a punch but hitting cotton.

Even Chi Mingyi on the watchtower swayed slightly after seeing this scene.

The Yan people,

were they feigning an attack?

But his side was waiting in battle formation, and your side was still wasting horsepower. What was the point of this kind of feigned attack?

Soon,

Chi Mingyi understood what the Yan people were doing.

When those Yan knights turned around, they tilted the mouths of the burlap sacks they were carrying and poured the soil inside directly into the potholes under them.

After pouring the soil, they immediately turned around.

The Yan army in the rear continued to pour soil, continued to fill the potholes, and incidentally stepped on them with their own horses' hooves, and then turned around.

The distance between the two sides was actually still far beyond the range of bows and arrows. Unless the Chu army in Yangshan Stronghold took the initiative to leave the stronghold and close the distance, it would be impossible to harm those Yan cavalry at all.

Therefore,

those Yan cavalry seemed to be extremely serious when pouring the soil, not at all sloppy, trying to pour all the soil in a sack, and also had to spread it evenly, so that there was not more on one side and less on the other.

Well,

everyone was very responsible, and no one was fooling around;

After all, everyone knew that if these muddy potholes were not filled up properly, they would have to sprain their horses' legs when they really charged later.

Goodness,

how fast was the speed of the charge, how could they, as knights, not know?

If a horse's leg was sprained, they would either fall down with the horse, or be thrown out by the horse. It would be okay if they fell a little further away. If they were not too unlucky, they would only break a few bones, but this was everyone charging together. If they fell down, they would probably be trampled over by their comrades' horses' hooves, and there would be no possibility of survival.

Therefore, this was also the reason why Liang Cheng chose to launch an attack early in the morning. First, the arrival was the arrival, but they had to dig the soil;

Second, they had to spend effort to fill the soil.

The knight who had turned back from the front returned again, picked up a new sack full of soil, and went forward again to continue the filling project.

Everyone was working very hard.

This scene made Chi Mingyi on the watchtower almost burst into flames!

He was not angry that the Yan army dared to fill the soil in front of him,

but he was angry,

the Yan army naturally could not have brought so much soil from the distant military stronghold, they must have dug it after arriving yesterday.

Therefore,

this Yan army had gone deep alone, at least for now, after going deep here,

they actually dug soil for a long time in a very leisurely manner?

Damn it,

who was in the military stronghold and who was outside the military stronghold!

You arrived here, and you didn't even build a stronghold, you didn't even bother to set up tents, and you just dug soil there to prepare for filling the potholes the next day?

How much did they look down on their opponents,

look down on him and the rattan armor soldiers under his command in this Yangshan Stronghold!

Ahhhhhhhh!!!

Although Chi Mingyi was the son-in-law who came to the Bai family, if he was not excellent enough, he would not be able to climb the Bai family's door, and the Bai family would not let the Bai family's children be his subordinates and let him lead this rattan armor soldier.

He was already a proud and arrogant person,

and watching those knights in front who did not look like Yan people but were Yan troops carefully and seriously... filling potholes,

he really couldn't stand it!

In fact,

they just looked down on them.

Zheng Boye himself had an astonishingly brilliant resume, and the Xuehai Iron Cavalry under his command was also a truly proud and brave general.

Cavalry against infantry inherently carried a natural suppression and... contempt.

At least, the Chu people were not Qian people. If this time it was not attacking Chu but attacking Qian, the Yan army would be even more presumptuous and unscrupulous when facing the Qian army.

Too arrogant soldiers were prone to suffering losses, but the spiritual attribute bonus that this kind of arrogance could bring was actually extremely obvious.

The Great Prince was in Yinlang County, and his subordinates were all local county soldiers, but they were still able to fight back and forth with the Qian people on the border, and their opponents were still the elite of the Three Borders of Qian State. The bonus in spirit and momentum actually accounted for a large proportion.

They just looked down on you, they beat you, they were just confident!

Seeing you was like seeing military achievements that were readily available, how could they not be happy?

On the other hand, seeing the Yan army's flag, their own courage was three points weaker. With this ebb and flow, the balance of war had actually tilted long ago.

The Blind Man had joked with Zheng Boye that this was like facing curry in another time and space. Rationally, he kept telling himself that he must value his opponent, he must value his opponent, but emotionally, he told him that it was really difficult to do.

The Sword Saint was also not familiar with military affairs, so he was also a little surprised by the scene of temporarily filling potholes before the war.

This battle,

could actually be fought so down-to-earth.

A'ming took out his water bag again,

"My lord, it's hot, wash your face again."

"Okay."

A'ming poured water, and Zheng Boye reached out to take the water and wiped his face.

After the water was poured,

A'ming nodded contentedly. He could empty it and prepare to fill it with "wine".

After washing his face, Zheng Boye felt refreshed and pointed to the watchtower in Yangshan Stronghold in the distance,

and said:

"I heard that a real sword immortal can soar to the sky with a sword and then draw down heavenly thunder. Can you solve the person in the watchtower over there first?

If the one above is gone, this battle will be much simpler."

This was actually making things difficult for him.

But,

continuing to watch the unfinished soil filling work in front was also a bit boring, so he was looking for a topic and fun.

Faced with Zheng Boye's ridicule, the Sword Saint just smiled and said:

"No need for a sword immortal, Earl of Pingye, you only need to have Tian Wujing's strength, and rush directly up. If the person on the watchtower does not have enough experts to protect him, he can only be frightened and jump down and hide in the army."

Zheng Boye shrugged.

A'ming then "Heh"ed,

stretched lazily,

and said lazily:

"If the master has the strength of the third-rank peak, where would he need to be so troublesome?"

The Sword Saint then corrected: "The third-rank peak is indeed very strong, but it is not a god."

A'ming's mouth showed a smile, one third-rank peak was not a god,

then what about seven?