Chapter 960: Chapter 7: Gathering Storms, Breaking Army’s Dream Shattered, Gold Scimitar Cavalry
"Horse archery, I’m really not skilled."
"Without a cavalry general, even if the Western Regions’ cavalry is special, we still can’t truly unleash their power. Scattered soldiers also cannot protect their families."
Li Guanyi reached out to stroke the feathers of the Flying Eagle and said,
"A cavalry general, huh..."
He thought of the top-notch cavalry commander of the Taiping Army.
The Divine Shooter General, Wang Shunchen, the Taiping Duke’s cavalry commander.
When he defended the city alone, he shot over 3,000 arrows, suppressing the Qiang people’s vanguard cavalry archer. After Li Guanyi’s father died more than ten years ago, his spirit was broken, and he alone came to the Western Regions Dazi, indulging in wine and beauty.
Li Guanyi said, "First, teach them some Inner Qi cultivation methods to train their bodies."
"Then, train their synergy according to the basic battle formation, using the method of [Unified Qi], which Master Yuwen Tianxian taught us for multi-arms coordination, which includes archery, though it’s barely enough to command, it’s not impossible."
Fan Qing nodded.
Changsun Wuchou hesitated and said, "Lord, are you not worried that they might run away after teaching them the Central Plains’ Inner Qi?"
Li Guanyi smiled calmly and said, "No worries."
Changsun Wuchou looked surprised.
Li Guanyi replied, "Changsun, the reasons they would flee, as you mentioned, might be to leave us, or seek stability, or join the city-state nobility, right? No need to worry, if they take this bit of Inner Strength and leave, so be it."
"As for joining the city-state nobility..."
Changsun Wuchou saw the young lord smile without much warmth in his eyes.
He stood up, and the Flying Eagle on his arm spread its wings, larger than an average person’s, blocking the sky behind the young lord. Li Guanyi replied,
"Even if they leave here, it’s impossible to integrate into the Western Regions’ native nobility, because between them, there’s a [class conflict], which is, in any case, impossible to change by individual will."
"The Western Regions’ nobles oppress them, extracting their blood and flesh to survive, and they are oppressed to the point of being unable to live, which is a stark, sharp issue, not something one or two people can change."
Changsun Wuchou looked into those eyes, and with these words, it seemed like the three hundred years of ceaseless turmoil in the Western Regions, the grandeur of its times, had been summed up. Changsun Wuchou’s emotions were stirred, and after a long time, he slowly said,
"...Yes."
This vast troop thus headed towards the predetermined destination.
In the process, the problem solved by [Hou Zhongyu] with Corpse Transformation Powder was finally noticed—not that Hou Zhongyu’s powder didn’t work, rather, it worked too well.
It resulted in Huyan’s supply team for the front line disappearing into thin air, so much so that neither Huyan’s father nor the front line saw their troops, sending angry messages via Flying Eagle.
Huyan’s father became suspicious, repeatedly writing to the cities along the route, discovering that his son hadn’t reached the second city, and thus vanished without a trace. It was then discovered that the tribes that originally lived along the way, near water, had also disappeared.
Only then did they suddenly realize, sending teams with sharp-nosed hunting dogs back and forth to search, finally finding the place. However, digging deeply in that large area yielded nothing—
Aside from soil mixed with blood that turned deep red, not even a piece of clothing or a bone was found.
It was as if they had vanished into thin air.
Saying that the land turned red,
but on every piece of land in the Western Regions, which inch hasn’t been soaked with the blood of the people, turning into a black-red color early on?
In the end, Huyan’s tribe on the front line was defeated by the Wolf King’s forces, and Huyan’s great general yelled, "Huyan, you ruined our supplies and disturbed our army’s morale! If it weren’t for this, we wouldn’t have suffered such a tragic defeat!"
Little Wolf King Chen Wenmian interrogated the situation and learned about these events.
He had always been meticulous and couldn’t help but say to the strategist beside him, "I’ve heard that under Marquis Qin Wu, Li Guanyi has a skill learned from the Chen Country’s palace chief magician Hou Zhongyu, which can turn corpses into blood. Such a method, could he have come here?"
But after thinking it through, he still found it impossible.
After all—
"It’s said that not only did they kill Huyan’s team, but they also seized all the supplies, food, gold, and silver, like the sand pirates in the desert, unlike the lords of the Central Plains."
"For over three hundred years of world strife."
"Where is there such a poor and exploitative lord?"
Chen Wenmian, born of royal blood, had seen lords who enjoyed the utmost power and wealth of the world, so he immediately dismissed this suspicion. He killed Huyan’s great general with a spear, saying, "Moreover, just half a month ago it was reported that Li Guanyi was forging weapons."
"Unified weights and measures, same track for carts, same script."
"Integrating Jiangnan’s Eighteen States into one, called Shen Zhou."
"He even dared to recklessly abolish the rituals for praying for rain and halted a year of major and minor sacrifices. How could he possibly cross twenty thousand miles within a mere half month and reach the Western Regions to accomplish such a feat?"
Chen Wenmian shook his head and said, "But just because Li Guanyi isn’t here, it doesn’t mean it’s not a deputy from the Heavenly Strategy Mansion or the Qilin Army. Let’s send someone to investigate."
"Li Guanyi will surely come to the Western Regions one day, and it’s only natural to send someone ahead here."’