Chapter 959 The Splendor of Great Chu!

The mountain's evening breeze was a bit chilly, but still within acceptable limits.

In fact, the fact that Yan State didn't choose to launch the Yan-Chu war after the start of winter already demonstrated that its strategic intentions were different from the past.

Tian Tian had just finished eating and was leading a team of armored soldiers to patrol the various passes on the mountain.

There wasn't enough time to build solid fortifications now. Fortunately, the items in the temples and Taoist temples could be dismantled to make some simple roadblocks. For example, the downward slope in front of Tian Tian had actually been used to stack a pile of Arhat statues into a simple high platform.

After this experience at Wufeng Mountain, Tian Tian thoroughly understood why his father had always disliked those from beyond the mundane world. Originally, he had led his troops into this mountain as bait to provide Chen Xianba with a chance for a fatal blow from the outside, but as a result, because of these monks and Taoists' "collection," he felt like he was "back home."

Even though they didn't lack food and supplies, and had paid attention to replenishing them while marching west, these logistical needs were never too many, especially during a siege.

Often, how long a siege could last didn't depend on the quality or strength of your troops, but on... the storage of food and other supplies.

For example, Tian Tian knew that Qu Peiluo's father, a pillar of Great Chu, had led the finest infantry in the world, said to be able to stand against the iron cavalry of Great Yan on the plains, but after holding Yupan City, he had to open the gates and surrender due to lack of food.

Currently, Tian Tian controlled nearly five thousand auxiliary soldiers. Although their combat skills and abilities were still quite different from regular soldiers, due to the traditional auxiliary soldier system in Jindong, Jindong's auxiliary soldiers were actually similar to Yan State's county soldiers and Chu State's local troops other than the imperial guards.

In addition, Jindong's auxiliary soldiers had always been the reserve force for the regular soldiers, equivalent to the rear camp of his father's Jingnan Army back then, and their military discipline and command efficiency were far superior to those of the local troops.

In addition to the auxiliary soldiers, Tian Tian also had laborers.

The quality of the laborers was definitely much worse, but because this was the first round of the offensive, the laborers selected were mainly young and strong men, who could fight if they took up weapons. After all, many commoners yearned to advance through military achievements.

In Jindong, there was never a shortage of myths about ordinary people rising through military merit, because their Prince was the greatest myth of all.

There was also one point that Tian Tian knew in his heart, but thinking about it that way was a bit too dark.

That was, although he was now fighting in a foreign land, the strict local household registration system in Jindong allowed his nearly ten thousand troops to think about collapsing? Surrendering? Being timid in battle?

Before thinking about these things, they had to consider their families in Jindong.

Over the years, there had been people who deserted during military exercises, and there had been those who performed poorly in small-scale military conflicts. When there were more people, there would always be those who were greedy for life and afraid of death.

Therefore, every time such a thing happened, their families would suffer a terrible fate, and they would be made an example of, paraded around the fortresses, reclaimed settlements, and even nearby places.

Ahead, torches were lit, which was the watch point for tonight's patrol. Because there was a large slope below, people had to be left to guard it.

To Tian Tian's surprise, there was a soldier next to the torch, holding a book and reading by the firelight.

Tian Tian walked over. The man was so engrossed in his reading that he didn't notice Tian Tian's approach.

Just then,

a low shout came:

"Password!"

Tian Tian looked up and saw a person in another position aiming an arrow at him.

The one who was reading was so frightened that his hand trembled and the book fell to the ground.

"Greetings, Vice Commander!"

Qin Xiaoyong, who had been reading, was the first to recognize who the person in front of him was and immediately knelt down.

His brother, not far away, also immediately saluted:

"Greetings, Vice Commander!"

Qin Xiaoyong was quick-witted at this moment and immediately explained:

"Reporting to the Vice Commander, I was changing shifts with my brother. My brother is taking my place now."

The meaning was that he wasn't slacking off.

Tian Tian didn't blame him, but bent down and picked up the fallen book.

The book was a handwritten copy,

and the title on the cover was…

…

"Zheng Zi's Art of War?

Sir, you still read these?"

Commander Cui asked with a smile.

Xu Wei-chang put down the book in his hand and rubbed his brow, saying; "Just a last-minute cram."

Commander Cui helped the Prefect brew a cup of tea;

"Have the reinforcements from Liusha County arrived?"

"No news, I'm afraid they won't be coming." Commander Cui said, "Liusha County is next to Fan City, isn't it?"

"It's not that they can't come, I'm afraid they never intended to come." Xu Wei-chang smiled indifferently, "I guess they're just waiting for the Yan army to cross my Sansuo County, and as soon as they enter his Liusha County, they'll prepare to pack up and run."

Commander Cui smiled and nodded, saying: "We can't completely blame them. In recent years, Sansuo and Liusha counties have been drained of refugees because one is next to Shanggu County and the other is next to Fan City. Our two counties are already in ruins."

"If the home is broken, should we just let the bandits come and go and not care at all?" Xu Wei-chang asked rhetorically.

"We'll take our time."

"That's not the way it is. In fact, what's really valuable isn't this house, but the land on which it's built. The Yan people are probably not really interested in our Chu-style houses."

"Forget it, let's not talk about those things. Commander Cui, you met the garrison on Wufeng Mountain today, what do you think?"

"Extremely organized."

"Oh?"

"There are rumors that the one leading the army into Sansuo County this time is the eldest son of the Yan State Regent, that is, the son of the former Jingnan Prince of Yan State."

"The descendant of famous generals, and the descendant of two famous generals, so it seems that he is worthy of his family education."

"There's one more thing you may not know, Sir. When the Yan people first left Shanggu County and crossed the Wei River, they fought a battle with our Great Chu's Prince Ding at the landing point. Prince Ding suffered a minor defeat and couldn't take it down.

The one leading the troops was the son of the Jingnan Prince."

"Alright, then I'll take back what I said earlier. If there are no accidents, the young man on the mountain should know more about military affairs than I do."

"You can't say that, Sir. You…"

"No need to cover up anything. Before the battle, I was still holding the military book written by his father. If this gets out, I'm afraid I'll lose all face, won't I?"

"Heh heh."

"Haha."

The two laughed.

"But there's nothing I can do. I'm also in a difficult position. Although I've gathered the entire county and only scraped together 30,000 county soldiers, and if I mobilize the people and strong men inside and outside the county seat, I can also gather about 30,000.

Sixty thousand men, if they go into the Daze, I'm afraid they can make a good name for themselves, but you and I both know in our hearts that if we face the Yan people on a real battlefield, it's still not enough.

This military book says that when besieging and trapping the enemy, you should avoid square formations. It's a pity that I don't know that such an arrangement will seem very stupid, but the book also says that if one side is missing, you must fill it in, or use a small force of elite troops to delay the enemy's formation.

These men were all pulled together by my reputation, and now they're barely maintaining the appearance of a large army.

If one side is arranged with fewer troops, as soon as the Yan people rush down the mountain, let alone resist, they won't have the courage to fight against an equal number of Yan people, and they'll probably collapse and flee long ago.

'The Yan army is not full of ten thousand, but ten thousand are invincible.'

Who said that first?"

"Reporting to you, Sir, if I remember correctly, it should be the Regent of Yan State."

"Words to demoralize us, the Yan people don't have three heads and six arms, but if these words are spread for a long time, the people below will really believe it. It's a pity that my Great Chu originally had the hope of reversing the disadvantage by relying on the victory in Liangdi, but the Qian people were forcibly destroyed by the Regent.

Sometimes, I also think, if the country's affairs are like this, then what will happen next?"

Before Commander Cui could answer,

Prefect Xu said self-deprecatingly:

"We can only do our best."

After saying that,

Prefect Xu picked up "Zheng Zi's Art of War" again, opened it, and said at the same time:

"Commander Cui, I'll trouble you to patrol the camp."

"Don't worry, at least our army is stronger than the Yan army now, so there shouldn't be any fleeing soldiers or anything like that."

"Haha, that's good."

Prefect Xu continued to read the book.

Commander Cui walked to the tent entrance, stopped, and turned back to ask:

"Sir, what do you think of this book?"

"After careful consideration, every word is like a gem, and it's endlessly thought-provoking."

"His Majesty once asked Prince Ding how this book was written."

"Oh, how did Prince Ding answer?"

"The Prince replied that those who don't know military affairs will find it more and more wonderful."

"Oh, hahahaha."

Xu Wei-chang pointed at Commander Cui, but didn't seem angry at all, but sighed:

"I'm afraid that young man on the mountain would also find it uninteresting and boring to see an opponent like me."

Then,

Xu Wei-chang dropped "Zheng Zi's Art of War" and picked up another booklet,

saying:

"Then I won't read the military book, I'll read poetry. The Qian State's literary saint once scolded the Regent, saying that he had turned the way of poetry into a street juggling act.

In fact, I love the Regent's "Man Jiang Hong" the most, not the line 'With great ambition, I will eat the flesh of Yan barbarians when I am hungry, and laugh and drink the blood of Xiongnu when I am thirsty';

but the line:

'Wait until we start again, to recover our old land, and face the imperial palace!'"

Xu Wei-chang looked at Commander Cui,

asked;

"Commander Cui, do you think my Great Chu can really have that 'one day' in the future?"

"I'm not afraid of you laughing, I'm really not worried that my Great Chu's eight hundred years of Jiangshan Sheji will perish."

Xu Wei-chang nodded and said:

"The Jin State also thinks so."

"Alright, I'd better go patrol the camp, I can't talk to you."

Commander Cui walked out of the tent,

Xu Wei-chang's gaze turned to the candlelight on the coffee table.

When Commander Cui went out, he forgot to pull the tent curtain back, and a gust of wind happened to blow in, causing the candlelight to sway不停, almost going out.

Xu Wei-chang subconsciously reached out to block the wind in order to protect the candlelight,

but the wind blowing in was swirling in the tent,

all of a sudden,

the candle went out,

only the small charcoal brazier in the center of the tent was still emitting red light from time to time.

"Alas…"

Xu Wei-chang sighed,

picked up a book next to the coffee table, got up, walked to the brazier, lit it, and then turned around and walked back to the coffee table, using the burning book to light the candle again.

The book was burning, and paper ash kept falling;

Xu Wei-chang reached out and touched the accumulated ash on the coffee table,

smiled;

"Since ancient times, which country has never been broken? And which family has never been interrupted?

The Great Xia was majestic back then, but where is it now?

Thousands of years later,

the sun and moon change, the stars alternate, the mountains and rivers transform,

what can be left behind,

I'm afraid it's only the beauty of Chu clothing, the elegance of Chu hair, the elegance of Chu music…"

Xu Wei-chang threw this book that had been burned for a long time,

directly into the charcoal brazier.

"Clothes are worn by people, hairstyles are left by people, and music is sung and played by people.

Someone has to do something,

so that future generations will have the interest to look through them in their spare time, right?"

…

"In your spare time, just look through them, you don't have to memorize them."

Tian Tian said to Qin Xiaoyong.

After asking, Tian Tian finally learned that these brothers still had a "mantou (steamed bun) friendship" with him, and they had also discovered the armory hidden here by the monks and Taoists.

Therefore, Tian Tian was willing to say a little more to Qin Xiaoyong.

Because his father had told him a long time ago that this military book was just for looking at, if you want to learn how to fight, you have to go and see for yourself, see how much food a knight eats in a day, how much fodder a warhorse consumes, see how many days it takes for the logistics porters to push a cart of grain to how many miles away, and how much grain they have to eat from the cart…

"Look more at what the people around you are doing, look more at what the old soldiers are doing, these are more useful than what's in the book."

"Thank… thank you, Vice Commander." Qin Xiaoyong was very excited.

"Mm."

Tian Tian was about to leave here to continue patrolling when he saw Qin Xiaoyong take the initiative to offer his shoulder and squat down slightly.

Um…

Tian Tian could only imitate his father's appearance and patted Qin Xiaoyong on the shoulder.

Qin Xiaoyong's face was flushed with excitement.

Tian Tian smiled, turned around and went to patrol the next location.

That night,

both sides were safe and sound.

To be precise, the Yan army on the mountain, except for a few sentries, slept soundly.

The Chu army at the foot of the mountain was on guard against the Yan army attacking the camp at night, and they were on alert for most of the night. Then they felt that the moment when the sky was dawning was the most relaxed time for people, and many generals came over and whipped the soldiers to keep them awake at this most dangerous time;

unfortunately,

the Yan army on the mountain had no intention of raiding the camp at all.

In the morning,

the smoke from cooking fires rose blatantly into the sky, and the Yan people began to eat.

The Chu army camp also began to cook.

Xu Wei-chang looked at Commander Cui, whose eyes were red, and smiled: "Did you stay up all night?"

"I did." Commander Cui scolded while eating, "The Yan dogs don't follow the rules."

Seeming to feel that what he said was a bit stupid, Commander Cui had to say again: "It's also my fault, I've been a spy for too long. It's no problem for you to let me spy on the military situation, but if you let me command the battle, then I'm really a bit muddled and paranoid."

Xu Wei-chang shook his head and said:

"The Yan army on the mountain didn't raid at night, which means that the Yan people on this mountain are very confident and probably have a backup plan."

"This…"

"It doesn't matter. When attacking the mountain later, hang my flag as high as possible, the more eye-catching the better, so that the Yan people can see at a glance where the position of my Great Chu Prefect is.

I'll have to trouble Commander Cui again to lead your men and select those who can stand on the stage from among the 30,000 county soldiers to surround me.

Iron caltrops, deer antlers, pits, etc., should be arranged and dug first.

Wait for the guests to arrive."

Commander Cui looked at the Prefect, who was still reading "Zheng Zi's Art of War" last night, with some surprise:

"Have you been reading military books all night?"

Xu Wei-chang said angrily;

"After you choked me, I simply burned the book."

"Alright, my kid also can't read books, I'll burn all the books at home when I go back."

"This is a stupid method." Xu Wei-chang said, "First think that you are going to lose, and through your own defeat, calculate how the Yan people can make you lose the most miserably.

Hey,

don't mention it,

thinking like this makes my mind a lot clearer."

The Yan army who had finished eating had been waiting in battle.

Who knew that the Chu people didn't know what they were doing. It wasn't until noon passed and it was almost afternoon that they started the first real offensive.

For a time,

the war drums at the foot of the mountain thundered,

the flags fluttered,

and the young generals of the various county soldiers went to the Prefect to ask for battle, pounding their chests;

what a magnificent picture of the Great Chu army.

However, the results under this grand occasion were a bit embarrassing.

It stands to reason that one should strike while the iron is hot, and then decline… This first offensive should be the fiercest, but the three Chu armies, after contacting the Yan army on the mountain, were defeated and retreated after a while;

the offensive was launched in the afternoon, and the defeat and retreat were too fast, far from the time for dinner, so the Chu army changed another group of men and launched a new offensive before dinner.

This time, the battle lasted longer, and the Yan people began to retreat.

The Chu army suddenly got carried away, ignoring the orders from the rear and began to advance rashly. Then they were counterattacked by the Yan people from the mountain and were defeated again.

One of the groups was led by Chen Xianba's eighteen… oh no, now seventeen sworn brothers;

These surrendered Chu local aristocratic children, after being frightened by Tian Tian, and incited by Zhou Feng and others, burst out with extremely terrible fighting enthusiasm in the face of the Chu army, whose combat power was not good.

If Tian Tian hadn't ordered them to stop in time, and they hadn't dared to disobey Tian Tian's orders, they might have really continued to get hot-headed and counterattacked into the Chu camp at the foot of the mountain.

In short, no matter what, after the two attacks were over, everyone had muddled through until it was dark, and began to prepare for dinner.

While eating, Tian Tian looked at the casualty reports submitted from below. The Yan army's losses were not many. Of course, the Chu people's losses, although more than the Yan army, were not very large either.

In the next three days,

the Chu army launched three offensives every day, one in the morning and two in the afternoon, but of course, they all failed.

Moreover, gradually, the attacking Chu army's aggressiveness began to decrease, to the point that if there was a slight setback, the leading general would take the lead in retreating;

The Yan army on the mountain also got used to it, and after a round of arrows, they pretended to hold their knives and shout loudly, pretending to rush down, to cooperate with the Chu army's retreat.

This battle was fought, and both sides seemed to be able to accept it.

At first, Tian Tian still thought that the Chu army was deliberately feigning, but after observing for these four days, he finally confirmed that the overall quality of this Chu army… was really not high.

He had previously taken it for granted that the Chu State's county soldiers' combat power was equivalent to his own auxiliary soldiers, but now he realized he was wrong. He had missed one point: the Chu State's first-class combat power was the Great Chu's imperial guards, and the second-class combat power was not the local army, but the former aristocratic private soldiers… The local county soldiers were actually third-class, and usually only responsible for catching bandits and thieves.

Therefore,

Tian Tian began to have an impulse in his heart,

why not,

not wait for Brother Ba?

Try it yourself, and see if you can lead the main force down to break the Chu people at the foot of the mountain with a surprise attack?

Perhaps Chen Xianba, who had been hiding and wandering on the periphery, also realized the Chu army's weak combat power, or perhaps he sensed, in the dark, some younger brother's attempt to monopolize the merit.

Therefore,

on this afternoon,

when the Chu army began today's offensive against the mountain,

a Yan army cavalry suddenly rushed out from behind, with a clear target, wanting to break through the Chu army formation in one fell swoop and directly destroy the Chu army's banner!

And on the high platform under the flag,

Prefect Xu, who had changed into a green robe and had his sideburns neatly combed,

picked up a bamboo flute and began to play;

Next to him, there were actually more than a dozen beautiful concubines selected from the county seat, who cooperated with the Prefect's melody with zithers and se, or danced with it.

Chen Xianba, riding a pixie beast and charging in the front, saw this scene from afar,

and couldn't help but laugh and curse:

"Is he a fool, hahahaha………"

The pixie beast's front hooves stepped into a dug pit, and Chen Xianba fell over.

Many Yan army knights also fell from their horses, and the knights behind were blocked and had to rein in their horses and stop;

Just then,

Commander Cui raised his knife,

shouted loudly,

"Brothers, kill the Yan dogs!"

Leading his men and a group of Chu soldiers rushed out.

On the high platform,

Prefect Xu dropped the bamboo flute in his hand,

picked up the drumsticks next to him, and began to beat the big drum in front of him. The drumbeat was exquisite, and his posture also twisted when he beat the drum. In general, Chu nobles and famous scholars often used this as a "wind elegant drum" and played it at gatherings.

Seeing that the surrounding beautiful concubines had not recovered from the sudden appearance of the killing scene in front of them,

Prefect Xu immediately shouted loudly,

shouted;

"Continue to play music, continue to dance!

Let these Yan barbarians see,

what is called my… the Splendor of Great Chu!"