Covering the sky: Starting with the holy body, the immortal Taoist comes to attack

Chapter 163 Is Man Wan Invincible?
To be fair.

For decades, the Jie tribe, which rose to power in the north, has been brutal and ruthless, but they are worthy of being called the overlords of the north, and their troops are incredibly powerful.

Especially under the leadership of the deceased Jie King Nuchi, the Jie people's perseverance and cruelty were brought to an extreme.

During the Great Zhou Dynasty, a deceased general from the northern border once summarized the strengths of the Jie army.

"The Jie people have four strengths: perseverance, cavalry, heavy armor, and bow and arrow."

"There's a saying among the Jie army: 'If you can't charge into battle for over a hundred rounds, how can you call yourself a cavalryman!'"

Furthermore, the military law of the Jie army was extremely harsh: "If a squad leader dies in battle, all four men will be beheaded; if a platoon leader dies in battle, all squad leaders will be beheaded; if a centurion dies in battle, all platoon leaders will be beheaded..."

It was under these characteristics of military strength that the Jie people gradually grew from a small tribe in a harsh and cold land, repeatedly winning battles with fewer troops and suffering terrible casualties.

Ultimately, it grew into a large ethnic group with 70,000 to 80,000 members.

In the end, a saying circulated in the North over the years: "The Jie people are invincible if they number less than ten thousand, but if they number ten thousand."

This is one of the reasons why the Jie people were able to run rampant and act arrogantly within the territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty!

In addition, the incompetence and internal repression of the ruling Sima clan meant that a single Jie tribe unit of a thousand men could often run rampant in front of the cities guarded by the northern border troops, wantonly plundering the border people.

Over time, this has led to a certain mindset, or "fear of Capricorns," forming in the minds of many people.

This is also reflected in the army's expedition to wipe out the Jie tribe.

Many civil officials under the Northern Governor-General still adhered to a conservative and defensive strategic mindset, and strongly advised His Majesty King Gu Xuan not to start a war lightly, lest he suffer a major defeat.

Even among the border soldiers, some were filled with fear and dared not confront the Jie tribe in this way.

It can be said that if Gu Xuan had not led his troops to attack and killed the elites such as King Nuchi, this expedition would not have been possible at all.

Without a doubt.

If the Great Zhou Dynasty continues to weaken under the rule of the Sima clan, it will not be long before this fertile land in the north falls into the hands of the Jie people.

With the northern border now in their possession, the Jie tribe will inevitably further unite the forces of all sides and will certainly not let go of the large iron mine within the northern border.

In that case, this ferocious alien race will once again experience a terrifying increase in military strength, and not only that, but also in population, economy, and other aspects.

As a result, the Jie tribe will inevitably become a terrifying natural disaster for the Great Zhou human race, and even for all living beings on this land.

At the very least, many more lives will be slaughtered.

In a more serious scenario, it could potentially destroy the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, reducing humanity to slavery.

And of course.

For Gu Xuan, the so-called "the Jie people are invincible if they number less than ten thousand, but if they number ten thousand, they are invincible" is undoubtedly absurd!

We are all living beings; being stabbed by swords will cause us pain, and being stabbed in a vital spot will kill us.

Moreover, for Gu Xuan, what secrets were there to cold weapon warfare on this land?

For the military, it's nothing more than fair rewards and punishments, sufficient logistics, proper equipment, enough depth, suitable terrain... and then there's courage, training, discipline, and so on.

There's nothing mysterious about it; everyone's basic qualifications are slightly different, but essentially the same.

In the absence of a technological gap in weaponry, whoever can achieve all of the above can become the overlord of this land!
And in fact.

Gu Xuan's insights were also endorsed by true elites such as Jiang Bushi and the Governor of the Northern Border at the military conference.

These two men, as true experts in the northern border region of the Great Zhou Dynasty, had already developed some vague opinions during their long-term conflict with the Jie tribe.

However, they did not develop a systematic approach like Gu Xuan's for the time being, and their combat experience had long been suppressed by the Sima clan, preventing them from developing further.

but.

When Gu Xuan finally expressed these opinions, it was as if he had spoken to their very hearts.

This was undoubtedly a wise and insightful opinion, and it was endorsed by the majority of those attending the military conference, including the vast majority of high-ranking border generals, civilian officials in charge of logistics and supplies, and the core staff.

It was precisely because of this that Gu Xuan was able to persuade many civil and military officials in the northern border region and promote this expedition.

Of course, without the iron will and unparalleled military prowess of King Zhou, even if the high-ranking officials of the Northern Territory knew these principles, they would never have taken the initiative to attack.

……

Back on the battlefield.

The newly appointed King Dai Shang of Jie stood on the low walls of Chanshan City, gazing at the disciplined and grim human army before him, his eyes as cold as ice.

Furthermore, once the number of people reaches tens of thousands, it will be a scene of dense crowds.

The human army that set out on this expedition, when it joined forces with Chanshan City, numbered at least forty to fifty thousand, including auxiliary soldiers and laborers.

not to mention.

According to reports from Jie scouts, an unidentified force has also appeared behind Chanshan City.

Moreover, the troops behind them, though clearly few in number, possessed terrifyingly high combat strength!
In order to ascertain the number of people and other details of this small force, the Jie tribe paid the price with the lives of at least twenty elite scouts.

That wasn't a small unit at all; it was a miniature black hole!

No matter how many spying men approach, they will all be killed by a single arrow. The accuracy, momentum, and weight of the arrow are terrifying!

finally.

Through the Jie people's relentless and risk-taking reconnaissance, they finally managed to estimate the approximate number of this small force, which should be around three to four thousand people, not too many.

however.

This small force displayed the same power and oppressive aura as the old saying, "If the Jie people number less than ten thousand, they are invincible if they number ten thousand," which made many Jie people, including Dai Shang, feel a sense of fear!

Time has passed, and now the Jie people are finally experiencing the heavy oppression of death.

In fact.

Prior to this, during major internal discussions within the Jie tribe, they had mentioned the idea of ​​retreating in the face of the human army.

In other words, they broke up into smaller groups and fled into the harsh, cold mountains and forests of the north.

In the past, during the height of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there were times when the ancestors of the Jie people were wiped out.

In those days, their ancestors escaped the attacks of the human race in this way.

On several occasions, they even used their advantage as mountain hunters to harass and assassinate the human armies that came to conquer them, defeating them and even slaughtering them instead.

This happened repeatedly, to the point that later generations were forced to abandon the complete eradication of the Jie people.

however.

Such a suggestion has now been rejected.

There is only one reason: the extremely elite small force behind Chanshan City is the nemesis of the Jie tribe! According to the Jie scouts' probing in recent days, the so-called splitting up and harassing in small groups is completely useless; they will only become prey for that small force.

This fact has been meticulously documented in the numerous corpses of the scouts, who were the elite of the Jie tribe.

Therefore.

After learning of this wealth of military intelligence, the new generation of Jie leaders, headed by Dai Shang, ultimately rejected the original strategy.

The situation is now completely different. Only by joining forces can they gather their greatest strength and perhaps win this great battle.

Otherwise, if they continue with their old tricks, the human army at the front will simply sweep through the entire Jie territory with full force, while the small forces behind will pursue and kill the fleeing enemy.

What awaits the Jie people is only to be defeated one by one, and the inevitable result is the extinction of the race.

"Damn it, how did such a powerful army appear among the human race?!"

These are the words of resentment and discontent in the hearts of many high-ranking members of the Jie tribe.

However, despite their complaints, they still had to calm down and face this severe test; failure meant certain death.

Furthermore, the Jie people were used to fighting offensive wars and did not place much importance on the defense of their cities.

Therefore, even though Chanshan City was the second largest city after the Jie tribe's royal city, it was nothing more than a simple and crude battlement.

Its highest section of the city wall is only about three meters high.

In the past, this would not have been a big problem, as there was virtually no other army that could have attacked.

But now, this has become one of the Jie people's sore points.

this moment.

At Dai Shang's command, six or seven hundred human women and children were brought up to the south gate of Chanshan City.

These women and children were clearly abducted from the Great Zhou territory by the Jie tribe in recent years, and some were even women from the Xijing Luocheng in the most recent incident.

Even from a great distance, the soldiers of the Great Zhou could see that each of these women and children had suffered ravages and torment, and looked extremely miserable.

Clearly, they had suffered countless humiliations at the hands of the cruel and vicious Jie people.

With their arrival, the Jie tribe also dispatched several soldiers with extremely loud voices, speaking in somewhat strange accents, to address the human army below.

The gist of it was that they wanted to use these hostages as leverage to ask the human army to retreat, or else they would kill them without mercy.

This is clearly not what they really meant.

Both sides were well aware that since the war had already progressed to this point, it was absolutely impossible to end the war because of this incident.

The Jie tribe's intentions were actually quite clear.

That is to boost the morale of our own troops by taking such actions!
in this process.

The Jie soldiers on the city wall, who were escorting hundreds of human women and children, looked at the humans below with mocking and contemptuous eyes.

This reflects their long-standing, arrogant attitude towards the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The Jie people number less than ten thousand, but are invincible if they number ten thousand. In the past, their cavalry of a few hundred men was enough to roam freely throughout the Great Zhou territory.

And that's not all.

These Jie soldiers were groping and humiliating the human women and children in their hands, committing all sorts of insults and obscenities, while also making loud, mocking noises.

It must be said that the measures taken by Dai Shang and others have had a significant effect.

As a result, the morale of the Jie soldiers was significantly boosted during this process, and the negative emotions such as panic and unease that they had felt from being attacked by the human army were largely dispelled.

With a major battle imminent, the importance of soldiers' morale goes without saying!

But this action is nothing short of an insult to the human race!
Such a scene naturally aroused great resentment among the human soldiers led by Jiang Bushi below the city wall.

Among them was a skilled archer in the army who angrily drew his bow and arrow, but ultimately gave up in disappointment, because at such a distance, he would inevitably fall before hitting the city wall, and would only make the Jie tribe more smug and mocking.

however.

Just then, Jiang Bushi waved his right hand.

The first three platoons of the vanguard were slightly spread out, and the tips of several ballistae were quietly protruding from the fourth platoon, all of which were carefully camouflaged.

The commotion was not significant; it looked like a natural adjustment of military trains.

However, some sharp-eyed Jie people on the city wall still noticed this.

But just as they realized something was wrong and wanted to shout a warning.

Then, a loud buzzing sound was heard!
From the ballista, more than a dozen crossbow bolts, as sharp as javelins, shot out, pinning more than twenty Jie people on the city wall to the wall behind them, making them utterly dead!
Accompanied by several screams, the blood and entrails of the Jie soldiers on the city wall were spilled all over the ground, a scene of horrific carnage.

Instantly, a heavy stench of blood filled the air between the two armies.

These ballistae were naturally one of the powerful weapons that Jiang Bushi brought this time, and also one of the few weapons of the Great Zhou Dynasty that represented a generational advantage over the Jie people.

Of course, even the best weapons need to be used properly. When the Sima clan and Cheng Luo were in power, these weapons could not be sent to the battlefield. At most, they were used for fixed defense in their own cities or even locked in the treasury.

The Jie people were also greatly alarmed by the attack, and many soldiers instinctively hid themselves, no longer daring to expose themselves outside the battlements.

Some soldiers, their eyes reddened by the loss of loved ones, swung their swords and killed the human women and children they were escorting, to vent their anger.

This action immediately inspired some Jie people to follow suit, with some even intending to use these women and children as sacrifices to appease the flag.

However, this situation was brought under control by higher-ranking generals after a brief period of chaos. This was not out of kindness, but rather because their established strategy was to use these women and children as potential food supplies in the future.

Because no one knew how long this siege would last.

All of this can only be considered an interlude.

With the command of the flags, the great battle that would ultimately determine the master of the North finally began!
Generally speaking, the defending side naturally has a relative advantage.

But for the Jie people, for decades or even centuries, they have hardly ever defended their cities; instead, they have always attacked their enemies!
This defensive maneuver was unprecedented for them in a long time.

Furthermore, Chanshan City was primarily a gathering place for storing their winter supplies, and could not be compared to the cities on the side of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Therefore.

As several city gates opened, the Jie tribe's prized heavy cavalry was mobilized.

They were divided into three routes, each consisting of more than five thousand heavy cavalry legions. Such power was truly earth-shattering!
These cavalry did not charge into the enemy lines, but instead approached the human legion at close range in a circumferential guerrilla tactic, unleashing a dense barrage of fire.

The Jie tribe's heavy arrows, unparalleled in the northern border, were like short spears, piercing the shields raised by the human soldiers so densely that they resembled hedgehogs, causing hundreds of casualties in an instant.

This is one of the secrets to the Jie people's dominance over the years: perseverance, cavalry, heavy armor, and bows and arrows, and now their power is being demonstrated once again!

But the human race was naturally prepared!
(End of this chapter)