Chapter 1 What to Do

"That's right, so let's see what we should do," Chi Lei responded.

Everyone felt that Ye Tao's idea was very likely.

Tong Bingwen wouldn't be arrogant enough to think that he could destroy Dongping with just over two hundred thousand troops in one battle. So at this time, seizing the existing results and expanding the gains while preserving as much of the force as possible…

"Before deciding what to do, let's explain a few things first." Qiu Haohui said in a calm voice, "General, these days, we have indeed achieved remarkable results, but… there are some things in the army that are better said out in the open."

Everyone looked at Qiu Haohui suspiciously. These days, Qiu Haohui had been doing things that were two levels below his position, almost as a commander. He had been working hard to integrate the three thousand or so heavy infantry and longbowmen under the Huoqi Army who were not good at cavalry warfare, and rarely put them into actual combat. Now, suddenly saying this, it sounded like he had some requests, so everyone was inevitably surprised.

"General, although no one has said anything, the heavy infantry and longbowmen under the Huoqi Army are really a burden to everyone." Qiu Haohui said sincerely, "Except for marching, these three thousand people have done almost nothing. Even the cavalry units under the Huoqi Army are not very good at this kind of fighting. Since we thought of different uses when we envisioned the two armies, we should give full play to them. If it is a battle like this now, I request the General to allow two thousand heavy infantry and one thousand longbowmen belonging to the Huoqi Army to reinforce Baishi City. Take all the heavy equipment with them, and the remaining six thousand or so brothers will at least be 20% faster in marching."

"No!" Ye Tao blurted out.

"General," Qiu Haohui looked at everyone present. He still had some confidence in saying this today. He asked, "I know that you have been working hard these days, thinking about how to defeat the enemy, and also thinking about how to let most of the brothers survive. You even refuse to lag behind in battle. I know that you are thinking that everyone is fighting for you, and you can't let down your brothers, and you don't want the brothers to suffer too much damage. However, General, this is not a question of fighting for whom. If we didn't have the heart to fight desperately, many of us wouldn't have come to the Huoqi Army or the Mengxue Army, let alone come so quickly at your call. We are not afraid of death, so you shouldn't be more afraid of our death than we are, right?"

Qiu Haohui had a broad smile on his face, and he continued, "General, defending the city is a matter of risking your life. That's right. Three thousand people is not a lot, but it's not a small number either. If we can delay for another ten days or half a month in Baishi City, you can make some more tricks behind enemy lines. The situation will be much better.… Even if the marriage between the two countries is definitely over, you have to think about yourself, right? If you fight well and the results are big enough, you will have a way to survive when Xiling retreats. Our families will also be able to speak for you."

Among the officers and sergeants, many were nodding silently. Ye Tao looked at everyone and said, "It's only been twenty days. If Tong Bingwen really wants Xia to take Baishi City, then he will face not twenty or thirty thousand people, but more… much more."

An old sergeant chuckled and said, "General, if the country encounters the Xiling army pressing down on the border and conscripts troops from all over the country, most of us here are on the conscription list. Eldest sons and only sons, there probably won't be many families that can let them mess around in the two armies' mansions. If 300,000 troops are conscripted, we are theoretically the cannon fodder who rush to the front to fill the numbers. Now we have been trained for almost two years. That's why I didn't retire to fatten my belly and wait to be cannon fodder, but I can put on heavy armor and go to battle to kill the enemy. There are so many young masters in the army who are also clamoring to kill the enemy. To be honest, fighting is really not for anyone. There are many people in this army whose hometowns are near here. Even if the general doesn't bring them, they will risk their lives to come back to protect their homes. General, we remember that you keep us in your heart, but how can there be no deaths in war? If you are afraid of deaths, you can't fight well. Don't you think that's the truth?"

When the surrounding faces were like this, becoming open-minded, cold, firm, and blurring the line between life and death in preparation for a glorious death in war, becoming indifferent to death to ensure the survival of the majority… when there were such warriors all around, what was there to be afraid of?

Ye Tao took a deep breath and said, "Understood."

He looked at Dai Yun, then at Qiu Haohui, and said, "What's standing between us and Baishi City now is Xue Jingze's one division of ten thousand cavalry and the Changjie Camp's unit, totaling a little less than twenty thousand. But now that they are spread out, we can use the time difference and the distance between their units to reach Baishi City. With our mobility, it's not difficult to slip through if we want to, but the problem is that once we slip through and send the Huoqi Army's unit into Baishi City, the Mengxue Army and the cavalry part of the Huoqi Army will be caught in a pincer attack. I prefer to cripple or even kill Xue Jingze's unit and the Changjie Camp's unit."

Everyone present looked at each other. They were sure that they had persuaded Ye Tao, but there shouldn't be such a big change.

"Don't be surprised. If our casualties exceed two thousand in destroying them with their current formation, it will be considered a failed battle." Ye Tao smiled self-deprecatingly.

"Chi Lei, spread out your troops and scout overnight. I need to know where the enemy closest to us is. It should be a unit of the Changjie Camp. Go see where they are camping. Are there any changes in the number of people? Which enemy reinforcements can arrive within an hour?"

"Yes." Chi Lei turned around and went out. The specific battle plan was irrelevant to him, but it was good to have the military intelligence arrive even a minute earlier.

"Qiu Haohui, the infantry and archers of the Huoqi Army should rest well tonight. Based on the information Chi Lei sends back later, I will inform you where to gather tomorrow, load all the equipment, and prepare for infantry combat."

"Yes." Qiu Haohui led several flag captains out of the tent.

"Dai Yun… let the brothers prepare. Tomorrow, only killing fast enough will reduce the number of deaths."

"Listen, what's that sound?"

The water vapor that had been steaming during the day condensed into a thin mist on the plain in the early morning. This extremely thin layer of mist would be gone after the morning sun shone on it. However, when the sky was just beginning to light up and the mist was at its thickest, the soldiers of the Changjie Camp's forward camp were awakened.

Clang—Clang—Clang—

That was the sound of metal scraping as the armor on the ranks of heavy infantry moved with their uniform steps. It was getting closer and closer…

The heavy infantry of the Huoqi Army, which had cost countless efforts and money to build, was dispatched.

The cost of the Huoqi Army's heavy armor was so high that even the richest country would be shocked. Each piece of heavy armor was stamped into shape. In an era lacking strong power, this thickness of metal sheet was already the limit of the dozens of tons of gravity stamping machines that Ye Tao had painstakingly created. Each piece of armor had overlapping parts with the adjacent armor, making it impossible to expose any gaps no matter what action was taken. All the armor was of the same specification, but an internal support system was designed to adapt to different body types. The leather and linen straps and leg straps, which were designed with ergonomics in mind, were filled with various flexible buckles, allowing each soldier to put on the armor pieces himself, and also avoiding direct contact between metal and skin. With a layer of leather and cushioning material, the soldiers had fewer chances of having their skin worn by their own armor.

The heavy armor still required everyone to help each other to put it on. Although they could put on the armor pieces themselves, they could not fasten the rigid buckles made of brass on the armor. Each of these buckles had a separate protection device, which completely prevented the heavy armor designed by the Dongping Ministry of War from having a laughably fatal flaw—the wearer's actions might accidentally open the buckle at some point, and the armor would fall off by itself. Moreover, with the strength of an average person, it was difficult to deform the buckle even with a strong impact, making it much easier to remove the armor after battle. On the inside of the armor plate was a layer stripped from shark skin. This material was simply the "Kevlar" of this era… or at the very least, the "Gore-tex" of this era, with good breathability and strong tear resistance. Even if the outer armor was penetrated, this thin thing could rely on its flexibility to relieve a lot of the impact force. Inside the hideous mask, there was an incredibly intimate design: a drinking tube directly connected to a water bag between the armor plate and the back strap, and the water bag contained a special water made of honey and salt—a byproduct of Ye Tao's failed attempt at making sports drinks. The taste was indeed not very good, but this kind of thing could prevent the heavy infantry, who were sweating like rain, from becoming dehydrated and exhausted too quickly. Of course, some soldiers liked to put something stronger in the water bag.

Outside the armor were gorgeous metal patterns. On the shoulders, chest, back, and legs were beast-shaped decorative patterns inlaid with brass and black iron strips. The armor of the officers was more elaborate, and the decorative patterns were not raised but polished to a smooth feel, integrated with the armor. As the commander of the Huoqi Army, Qiu Haohui's armor was even more exaggerated, and the surface was made entirely of cloisonné enamel.

The carefully designed, cost-no-object heavy armor had the most terrifying protection in this era. The three-stone bow, the most commonly used in the armies of various countries, had no effect on this armor at all. What could penetrate this armor was definitely not a single soldier's weapon. To deal with such heavy infantry, one either had to be willing to spend lives to exhaust them—after all, heavy infantry was a troop type that valued explosive power and did not have strong continuous combat ability—or concentrate several times the force, risking losses to get close and attack the heavy infantry from the blind spots in their armor. Or… one could hope that every soldier had superb swordsmanship and could aim at the throat with every strike.

This gorgeous heavy infantry, which Tan Weixin had once jokingly called the "heavy metal honor guard," stepped onto the battlefield in a mighty and imposing manner.

When the reflection of the armor made it difficult for the infantry of the Changjie Camp to open their eyes, they began to feel nervous.

"Wake up the general! Quick! The Xueqi Army is attacking!"

"Light the wolf smoke! Light the wolf smoke quickly!"

…………

On the flanks of the heavy infantry, the cavalry of the Mengxue Army appeared. Unexpectedly, they had no intention of raiding the camp. They had no intention of ending the battle quickly before the Changjie Camp's wolf smoke was seen. Instead, they were suppressing their speed, matching the speed of the heavy infantry, advancing like turtles.

The warhorses, which had been running wild these days, whinnied and shook their heads impatiently… The cavalry on the flanks were like ferocious beasts that had been forcibly restrained, and the ropes that tied the ferocious beasts could break at any time.

"Archers, three hundred steps forward, volley fire."

The commander of this unit of the Changjie Camp hurriedly put on his armor and mounted his horse. He watched as several guards had already ridden out of the camp at full speed, heading towards the camps of friendly forces in several directions nearby. He felt slightly more at ease. He only had five hundred archers, which was really not enough. Looking at the opponent's formation, he knew that this was not armor that could be pried open by archers. A volley fire was only a test.

His face was ashen as he watched the heavy infantry square not showing any intention of dodging, not showing any intention of raising shields to defend, not even showing any intention of looking up at the arrows falling from the sky. They maintained a uniform pace and moved forward. As expected, the arrows were deflected without causing any reaction.

Taking a look at the camp, which did not have much defensive capability, the commander desperately ordered, "Form ranks! Meet the attack!"

The one-sided massacre lasted for less than fifteen minutes. The cavalry had not moved until the Changjie Camp began to collapse. Then the cavalry suddenly attacked, throwing down two volleys of arrows from a distance, blocking the Changjie Camp's retreat. They did not intend to take action either. Today, the infantry was prepared to be handed over to the heavy infantry to deal with.

The heavy infantry's first actual combat appearance was too bright. Mainly because of the reflection of the sun… the result of two thousand heavy infantry against more than fifteen hundred infantry and archers, with the cavalry guarding the flanks, eleven dead and nine wounded, satisfied everyone. After collecting the bodies of their fallen comrades and nailing the poor commander of the Changjie Camp to the cross very skillfully, the faint sound of hooves came from afar.

The enemy's first reinforcements had arrived.

Wearing a full set of cavalry armor, Dai Yun stepped out of the ranks and shouted to the energetic soldiers behind him, "Mengxue Army, attack!"

They had not yet used all their strength. The cavalry on the flanks was only most of the Mengxue Army, adding up to less than three thousand people. But this was already twice as many as the first batch of enemy cavalry reinforcements. But no one dared to take it lightly. This was only the beginning of their series of battles today. If they could not use the time difference created by the opponent's scattered forces to eliminate them batch by batch, then even if the opponent used piecemeal tactics, they would be able to exhaust them here.

The soldiers did not let Dai Yun lead the charge. Two cavalrymen stuck to Dai Yun from both sides and leaned towards Dai Yun. Dai Yun frowned and pulled the reins. In the instant, countless cavalrymen behind her surged past her. In front of her, it was like an iron gate, slowly closing… In the moment before the iron gate closed, she saw a bayonet, belonging to who knows whom, pierce the enemy's chest.

… The soldiers' protection of Dai Yun was explained after the battle as not wanting Dai Yun, who was "highly skilled in martial arts," to steal the credit from the soldiers under her command. Facing such cheerful but considerate subordinates, facing them from the charge until they dispersed to hunt, killing all the more than a thousand enemies without leaving a single one, and the horses had not even had time to sweat much, Dai Yun accepted everyone's explanation with satisfaction.

While the second plume of wolf smoke was rising slowly, the second cross was being erected. Two dead people whose names no one was interested in knowing were being displayed like this, while the heavy infantry, who had taken off their armor and were starting to rest, began to dismantle the camp to build more crosses. Today, wolf smoke was not a signal for the enemy to contact, not only that. Attracting the enemy to come one after another was their strategy, their goal. Today, only the sound of these wolf smoke burning was to write the epitaph for the enemy.

"Enemies have appeared in the southwest, cavalry, more than two thousand people. Prepare to meet the attack." A scout under Chi Lei ran over in a hurry and shouted to the cavalrymen who had just calmed their breathing.

"Mount up! Meet the attack!" Dai Yun did not hesitate at all. Although it was originally said that two groups of cavalry would attack alternately, leaving time for each other to rest, Dai Yun did not hesitate at all at this moment, and would not doubt why Ye Tao asked her team to fight continuously. The burst just now was not even a warm-up for her and the people she was leading.

The dew was still heavy, and the cavalrymen who came to support from Xiling did not raise much dust. On a small slope, Dai Yun reined in the team, watching the other side who must have seen them now. The neat military appearance of the Xiling cavalry made her feel a little interesting. There were less than three thousand people on each side. Just from the number of people, it was evenly matched. At this moment, Dai Yun put away her pride in the combat quality of the soldiers under her command and shouted to everyone, "Maintain the formation, don't rush, don't panic, take care of each other.… Charge."

Following the very advantageous slope, the cavalry formed a wedge formation with protruding wings and charged towards the enemy…

At this time, a scout rushed to the high ground where Ye Tao and Chi Lei were and shouted loudly, "Another enemy force has appeared in the south. About three thousand cavalry. They will arrive in less than a quarter of an hour."

"What? So fast?" The enemy appeared too fast. Facing more than two thousand enemies, Dai Yun would definitely not have time to end the battle and withdraw in a quarter of an hour. Now, should he put the reserve force in his hand into battle?

"There's no time to think about it. I'll take the troops up there. You go and inform Dai Yun and Qiu Haohui… Take the time to rest." Looking at Chi Lei, who hadn't had a good rest all night, Ye Tao said. He shook Chi Lei's hand and shouted to the soldiers who were waiting for orders on the hillside, "Mengxue Army and Huoqi Army cavalry units, all mount up! Follow me to meet the enemy."