Longzang

Chapter 673 Beating Children

In this battle, Wei Yuan mustered an army of 50,000, claiming it to be 200,000, and marched in a mighty force towards the new territory of Zhao.

The vanguard consisted of a thousand light cavalry, led by a man with a short, bristly beard. He had been appointed to this critical mission just three days prior, having transferred his men from the Extinction Heaven Gang to the Azure Nether Army. After this battle, he would likely return to his old ways.

This man was at the peak of his Dao Foundation. He led his cavalry at a trot, saying as he marched, "Our job this time is very simple: find fault! We're good at this. You'll all learn from me in a bit. Be smart, understand?"

"Understood!" A group of fierce men, galloping on horseback, shouted the same thing at the end.

The cavalry quickly reached the edge of Zhao Domain. The short-bearded man took out a brocade pouch, opened it, took out a piece of paper, carefully read it, then burned it with his Dao power, saying, "The Realm Lord has already taught us how to find the fault, so I don't need to think of it myself. Brothers, follow me!"

Iron hooves thundered, stepping into the gentle and beautiful realm of the Azure Waters.

The large cavalry force had already gained military momentum. Once they entered the territory, it became known immediately. With the signal fire, thousands of light cavalry rushed over and blocked their path in the blink of an eye.

A captain of the Zhao light cavalry rode out and shouted, "Halt! Who are you? Why are you trespassing? This is the Great Zhao Bishui Territory, not a place you can enter and leave at will."

The short-bearded man pointed to his black military uniform with silver embellishments and shouted, "Are you blind? You can't even recognize my uniform? Have you ever seen such a handsome uniform? I'm the guerrilla general of Qingming!"

The Zhao cavalry captain, who already disliked Qingming, sneered, "Who do we have here? It's just Qingming and his barbarians! If you have nothing else to do, go back to where you came from. Otherwise, you might not be able to bear the blame when the generals find out."

“We have something to do, who said we don’t? If we didn’t have something to do, why would we come to this wretched place! Listen up, our master’s two pigs have gone missing and are now suspected of escaping into your Azure Water Realm.”

"What?" All the Zhao soldiers thought they had misheard.

“I’m saying, our pigs have gone missing and we suspect they’ve escaped into your city! You need to make way right now, we need to search the city. If we can’t find them after searching the whole city, then we’ll turn around and leave.”

The Zhao army captain was so angry he laughed and said, "Who knows what your master's pig looks like?"

The short-bearded man almost blurted out, "Is this what you look like?" but thankfully he pulled back from the brink. He spurred his horse towards the border, saying, "I'll recognize you when I see you..."

The Zhao army captain wouldn't let him pass. He stretched out his hand to block him and shouted, "How dare you! You dare to trespass on the territory of Great Zhao?"

The two horses passed each other, and the short-bearded man touched the Zhao army captain's fingertip, immediately falling off his horse and shouting, "The Zhao army is attacking people! They're killing people! Brothers, fight them!"

The Qingming light cavalry immediately drew their muskets and fired, sending large swarms of steel balls flying and instantly knocking over a hundred Zhao cavalrymen off their horses!

The attack was sudden, and the Zhao light cavalry were greatly alarmed. At that moment, the main force behind them had not yet finished assembling and was still far away. Although they were caught off guard, these Zhao cavalry were fierce. Despite being outnumbered, they charged back without fear, and the two cavalry forces clashed instantly.

Once the fighting began, the Zhao army's light cavalry, who had always prided themselves on their elite status, discovered that their opponents were superior in cultivation, combat skills, and weaponry. After just a few rounds, the Zhao army suffered heavy losses.

The short-bearded man lay on the ground, groaning as he fired his musket repeatedly, aiming for the horses' bellies, and in the blink of an eye, he had knocked down seven or eight riders.

In the blink of an eye, Zhao's five hundred light cavalry were reduced to just over two hundred, forcing them to retreat. The Qingming cavalry, on the other hand, suffered only a few dozen wounded and ten dead.

At this moment, two Qingming cavalrymen, following the short-bearded man's instructions, helped him up from the ground and then lifted him onto his horse.

The short-bearded man became energetic as soon as he mounted his horse. Seeing the thousands of Zhao cavalry rolling in, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "You stole my master's pig! We will not let this go! The army is coming soon, so guard your little wrecked city!"

Then, with a shout, the Azure Knights, carrying their wounded brothers and the bodies of the fallen, vanished like the wind.

On the retreat, a cavalryman asked the short-bearded man if he had overdone the act. He replied, "If we're going to fight, why don't we just give the order and let the brothers get to it?"
The short-bearded man cursed, "You guys are brainless! This is a method personally instructed by the Realm Lord. Do you think the Realm Lord is smarter than you? I'll put on a good show. When the time comes, no matter which immortal or powerful figure asks, I dare to swear to heaven that they attacked first!"
If what you say is true, I'd be struck by lightning before I even finished swearing. A bunch of idiots! Use your brains more in the future! Read less fiction and more history! The adults said that you can't fight a war without studying.

All the riders bowed in submission.

In this world of cultivation, it's common knowledge that lying in front of an immortal will result in an immediate tribulation. Some powerful cultivators possess such abilities, such as True Lord Yan Shi.

From the very beginning, this short-bearded man was prepared to argue his way out of the way before the immortal.

In the Azure Water Realm, Li Chengfeng had just finished breakfast when he received this news, which made him so angry that he couldn't eat anymore. He immediately went to the border to inspect the situation.

Soon after, the scouts reported that they had located Wei Yuan's army, which was now over 100,000 strong and was advancing towards them from a distance of 100 miles away.

Fortunately, the edge of the Biyue territory was a wide and flat area, which was perfect for a decisive battle between the two armies. So Li Chengfeng ordered his army to rise up and seize the battlefield position, and wait for Wei Yuan's army to arrive.

He had been preparing for this battle for a whole year.

As noon approached, Wei Yuan's army slowly entered the battlefield. Several miles away, the Zhao army had already formed ranks. The 50,000 Zhao soldiers were arranged in several horizontal lines, their formations impeccable and their military spirit soaring.

The 20,000 Zhao soldiers in the front ranks, each wielding a flying sword or spear, stood ready for battle. Behind them were another 20,000 Zhao soldiers with swords and shields, while the left and right flanks each had 3,000 light cavalry. Li Chengfeng led his generals in formation on the high ground behind them. Wei Yuan looked out from afar and saw that the Zhao army's military spirit was magnificent, like a sheer cliff or city wall, a true reflection of a first-class elite army.

On the other hand, Wei Yuan's troops were somewhat uneven in morale, and some even broke apart under the pressure of Zhao's army's morale.

Wei Yuan looked at Zhao Jun and said, "No wonder you are confident in fighting me. A full 20,000 Body Forging Warriors at the Refining Spirit Realm are an absolute main force in the Nine Armies of the Great Tang Dynasty."

Cui Yu nodded: "It is indeed rare, but unfortunately, times have changed."

Wei Yuan laughed and said, "The times are changing because of us, and that's a good thing. Otherwise, we would be falling behind and getting beaten."

Wei Yuan waved his hand, and horns sounded. Several thousand men in front formed a horizontal line and stood firm. While Wei Yuan's side also carried flying swords and spears, only three thousand men were armed; the remaining seven or eight thousand were armed with muskets.

Li Chengfeng pointed at Wei Yuan in the distance and laughed to those around him, "See? I told you so, didn't I? Although muskets first appeared in Qingming, it all depends on who wields them."

"We're all equipped with flying swords and spears now, while most of the enemy is still using old-fashioned firearms. Wei Yuan probably never imagined I'd use their own methods against them."

"Your Highness is wise!"

"Your Highness is the true wise ruler!"

"Compared to Your Highness, Wei Yuan is utterly insignificant!"

Li Chengfeng let out a long laugh, full of vigor and his voice echoing throughout the arena, declaring, "All troops, attack! We will not return until we are victorious!"

Zhao Jun shouted "Victory is certain!" three times in unison, his voice resounding across the field, his morale soaring. In terms of military spirit, Zhao Jun was far superior.

The Zhao army began to advance, preparing to bring the Qingming army into firing range.

Li Chengfeng smiled and said, "I suppose there's something else Wei Yuan doesn't know: the first three flying sword projectiles in our soldiers' hands were specially crafted by master artisans, and their range is twenty zhang farther than Qingming's flying swords! We'll give him a big surprise then!"

Many of the generals and advisors were unaware of this matter, and their confidence soared. They showered him with flattery, which was relentless and had a lasting impact.

When Zhao Jun approached within three hundred feet, Wei Yuan waved his hand again, and the vanguard retreated like a tide. The central army removed the cannon covers that could shield divine sense from the infantry cannons, and immediately a series of infantry cannons with a dark blue luster appeared.

To guard against any unforeseen circumstances, Wei Yuan prepared a full five hundred infantry cannons.

There were simply too many infantry guns to fit in a single row, so they had to be arranged in two staggered rows. The rear row was temporarily elevated by adding bases, thus completing the formation without interfering with each other.

At this point, Zhao's army was already within firing range, and Wei Yuan immediately ordered the cannons to fire.

The roar of cannons instantly drowned out all other sounds in the world!
When hundreds of infantry guns appeared, Li Chengfeng instantly felt a sense of impending doom. Before he could react, the battlefield was already engulfed by the sound of artillery fire!

Shells exploded one after another in the Zhao army's ranks, turning their once-orderly formation into a death knell. Each shell whistled past, claiming the lives of a dozen, or even dozens, of Zhao soldiers!

One round of artillery fire had already left Li Chengfeng's mind blank, and he was momentarily unaware of what was happening. Most of the Zhao soldiers were disoriented by the bombardment, but a small number continued to advance with their guns at the ready, as required by training. As a result, they were met with another round of artillery fire.

The artillery fire continued relentlessly, seemingly without end.

The majority of the army Wei Yuan led were actually civilian laborers responsible for transporting artillery shells and supplies. To be on the safe side, Wei Yuan specifically brought 20,000 artillery shells for this major battle, enough for each cannon to fire forty rounds.

Wei Yuan believed that if you were to hit a child, you had to do it seriously, because it would be too embarrassing to be hit by a child.

One Daoji warrior was in charge of commanding every ten cannons in the artillery unit, thus enabling them to cover up to fifty targets. Seeing the heavy casualties suffered by the central Zhao army, Wei Yuan deployed two hundred cannons to bombard the cavalry on both flanks, and then used fifty cannons at maximum range to bombard Li Chengfeng's central army.

The two armies were eight li apart, and the infantry cannons that Wei Yuan brought also had a range of eight li.

Wei Yuan had carefully planned the location for the artillery positions. When the cannons were arrayed and set up, the military aura concealed their movements, preventing Li Chengfeng and his several Dharma Aspects from detecting them with their divine senses. Even the two Imperial Realm experts who were secretly overseeing the operation were unaware of what Wei Yuan was doing.

Dozens of shells whistled down towards Li Chengfeng's central army. A Daoji general swiftly grabbed a shell and shouted, "What the hell is this...?"

With a deafening boom, the shell exploded, and the general lost an arm, plummeting from the sky. A cultivator at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage was thus severely injured.

Li Chengfeng was both shocked and furious. He had no choice but to join forces with several Dharma Aspects to barely stop wave after wave of cannonballs. Just then, he suddenly saw a cavalry unit charge out from the flank of Wei Yuan's formation, with a celestial horse galloping amidst the military aura above their heads.

This cavalry force was incredibly fast, making a wide circle and cutting off Li Chengfeng's retreat!
(End of this chapter)