Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 144 A Disappointing Army

When a general devises a plan, he should not make it too sophisticated, unless he has a group of subordinates whose intelligence and ability to act are comparable to his sophisticated plan.

Unfortunately, the world is never short of sophisticated schemes, but it is extremely difficult to find people who can execute them.

When problems arise in the very first stage of execution, the more sophisticated the general's strategy, the more foolish it appears.

Zhuge Liang burned Bowangpo, Zhuge Liang burned Xinye City, Zhuge Liang burned the rattan armor soldiers, Zhuge Liang borrowed arrows with straw boats, Zhuge Liang played the zither to scare away Sima Yi... You see, wisdom and planning are so simple and unadorned.

Even when the story is written in a book, it can excite the Han people for many, many years.

It's obvious that Zhao Shu, the Grand Commander, doesn't have the abilities of Zhou Yu, the Grand Commander of Eastern Wu. This old fellow's greatest wish right now is to bring his family back to Chang'an and enjoy the wealth and honor he should have enjoyed long ago.

Therefore, he brought back sixteen sections of the Great Wall garrison with him back to Chang'an, meaning that there are at least sixteen passes on the Great Wall that are now unguarded.

Many good strategies that have been passed down are based on the interests of the country and its people. However, Zhao Shu's deceptive scheme is only for his own benefit.

He can truly be described as a white-haired old scoundrel and a gray-bearded thief.

Wu Tong's letter to Zhang Min made it very clear that he hoped Zhang Min could persuade Yun Ce to continue north of the Great Wall and that Yun Ce needed to quickly establish settlements, because with Zhao Shu's retreat, the situation at Tiewei Pass would become even more difficult.

As for that scoundrel Zhao Shu, he will personally cut off the old dog's head. He will find a way to transfer troops from elsewhere to guard the sixteen unguarded passes on the Great Wall. He only hopes that Yun Ce can forge ahead and quickly leave the Great Wall to the north, and establish a foothold between the Iron Enclosure Pass and the Great Wall.

"Wu Tong doesn't know we're about to face a surprise attack from three thousand Great Wall cavalry, does he?" Yun Ce asked Zhang Min.

"He shouldn't know."

"Does Wu Tong not know we have a bomb?"

"I don't know, I never said that."

"Have you dealt with the spies in the team?"

"It should have been cleaned up. If there are still any left, it's because I'm not capable enough, not because I didn't want to deal with it."

Yun Ce nodded and said, "That's good. We finally have the foundation to defeat the enemy and persist in cultivating the land north of the Great Wall."

Why do you say that?

"Because the brains of the Han people are not as useful as the brains of this savage. You seem to never be able to distinguish between important matters and secondary matters. What's worse, you really act on a whim when you do things."

A Grand Commander stationed at a vital pass that concerns all Han Chinese could abandon the pass and lead his soldiers back to Chang'an simply because he saw a good opportunity to return to his comfortable home, completely disregarding the lives of his people.

Furthermore, there was a Grand Marshal who, after being assassinated by a mysterious assassin, didn't even know if the assassin was sent by the emperor, and before his wounds had healed, he went to war with the emperor.

Okay, let's start the war then. The problem is, when you're undertaking something this big, couldn't you at least take care of priorities like the Great Wall first?

Zhang Min lowered her head and said in a low voice, "I think that great people should have a broad mind."

Yun Ce rolled his eyes at Zhang Min, and was just about to make a sarcastic remark about this former Panxinglou spy when he noticed that the water in his bowl was starting to ripple.

This must be Zhao Shu's cavalry arriving.

Yun Ce stood up and said to Zhang Min, "Let's go. Let's ride out of the city and fight for a while to embolden those slaves."

Zhang Min frowned and asked, "Just the two of us?"

Yun Ce glanced at her and said, "What's wrong? You've lost the courage to go into battle?"

Zhang Min gritted her teeth and said, "No."

"Since that's not it, then let's go. This time we must break through the enemy lines."

As the general charged into battle, Eji and the other women helped him put on his armor. The Yun family had quite a few suits of armor, including two sets given to them by Peng Zeng. Eji's favorite suit of armor was the one with two one-meter-long bird feathers on the head.

To be honest, this kind of armor with a feathered crest is only suitable for Lu Bu to wear. If anyone else wore it, they would look like a giant cockroach.

Eji felt that this outfit was most suitable for her husband, so she and Anji helped Yun Ce put it on.

Zhang Min naturally had no one to help her. She actually stripped naked in front of Yun Ce and changed into her inner clothes, and then put on her armor one by one.

By the time she finished putting on her armor, Yun Ce wasn't finished yet, mainly because he couldn't get the armor binding ribbons right.

Unable to bear it any longer, Zhang Min forcefully tugged at Yun Ce's silk sash, which visibly tightened around his waist before finally tying it back up.

After Eji and the women finished their farewell ceremony, Yun Ce rode his chestnut horse, carrying a lance, and Zhang Min, who was also riding a thunder-smoke beast and carrying a lance, headed towards the gate of the village.

The sound of horses' hooves pounding the earth was like the beating of drums.

Yun Ce turned to look at Zhang Min and said, "They've been charging for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, haven't they?" Zhang Min nodded and said, "They're trying to intimidate the enemy."

Yun Ce said, "They couldn't all be riding Thunder Smoke Beasts, could they?"

"How could that be? The Great Wall Guards aren't like the Iron Enclosure Guards. What right do they have to be equipped with Thunder Smoke Beasts on such a large scale?"

Yun Ce sighed and said, "You see, this is why Zhao Shu has become so abnormal. No one cares about him, which makes him feel that guarding the Great Wall defense line is meaningless."

Zhang Min said, "The soldiers of Tiewei Pass have been fighting against the Guifang people for decades without ever complaining. The Great Wall Guards are reaping military merits behind the soldiers of Tiewei Pass. What could they possibly be dissatisfied with?"

Yun Ce nodded and said, "Now, I understand Zhao Shu a little better."

"Does he think he has a right to abandon sixteen defensive passes?"

"How many years has Zhao Shu guarded the Great Wall?"

"I heard it's been thirty-six years."

The cavalry charge continued, dust billowed outside the Caowo Post Station, and the sound of horses' hooves echoed. Yun Ce ordered the gate to be opened and rode out with Zhang Min.

After leaving the village gate, Yun Ce had Feng An and the others close the gate again. He looked at the group of cavalrymen who were running around the Caowo Post Station and asked Zhang Min in confusion.

What are they doing?

"To deter the enemy."

"I've already come out, who are they still trying to intimidate?"

"Intimidate your subordinates."

Yun Ce looked up at the stockade wall and saw that his slaves were all pale-faced and trembling. If they hadn't been holding bombs in their hands, they probably would have run away long ago.

"They're about to start shooting arrows." Zhang Min took a cavalry shield from the rump of his horse, preparing to meet the enemy.

"Follow me."

Yun Ce told Zhang Min, then spurred his chestnut horse and charged towards the group of cavalrymen who liked to ride around others recklessly.

Yun Ce always felt that these people were riding bighorn sheep, not horses, but everyone called them horses, so he couldn't do anything about it.

The chestnut horse showed no fear of the animal, which was only half its size, and even deliberately lowered its head, as if it wanted to have a collision with the large wildebeest.

The great horned horse dodged, and the spearhead of the cavalryman thrusting from its back naturally went astray. The chestnut horse was moving in a straight line, so Yun Ce's lance pierced through the opponent's chest. Yun Ce flew through the air with the horse's lance for a while, and only after the lance had completely pierced through the enemy's body did he pull the lance out from the enemy's back and continue to stab the next one.

The chestnut horse has a natural intimidation over the bighorn horse. Even though many cavalrymen attached two knives to the bighorn horse's horns, the bighorn horse still dared not come forward when it saw the chestnut horse.

Seeing this, the chestnut horse became even more smug and charged towards the place with the most horned horses, carrying Yun Ce.

With a lance in his right hand and a saber in his left, Yun Ce unleashed a bloodbath on the path cleared by his chestnut horse. Neither the lance nor the saber could withstand a single blow from his immense power.

The chestnut horse was extremely proud, and even raised its head and neighed, letting out a series of wet, loud farts. Yun Ce clearly saw that any of the large horned horses that got their feet wet with the chestnut horse's farts collapsed to the ground. Yun Ce's lance pierced a man's sternum, and when he tried to pull it out, it got stuck in the bone. He then lifted the enemy with one arm, flicked the lance, and the sharp blade sliced ​​through the enemy's body, splattering blood all over the ground.

Suddenly, the view cleared, and there were no more enemies. Yun Ce turned his horse around and found that Zhang Min was already in a fierce battle, with four horned horse riders taking turns fighting her like a revolving lantern.

Previously, when Yun Ce saw the chestnut horse displaying its might, he assumed that Zhang Min's Thunder Smoke Beast would be just as powerful. However, he now realized that while the Great Horned Horse was afraid of the chestnut horse, it showed no fear of Zhang Min's Thunder Smoke Beast. The Great Horned Horses with sharp blades tied to their horns even attacked the Thunder Smoke Beast with their horns from time to time.

The cavalry that came to besiege Yun Ce and Zhang Min numbered less than a hundred, while the rest of the cavalry had begun to attack the fortress in an orderly manner.

Just as Zhang Min said, some cavalrymen fired crossbow bolts at the fortified village, while others threw out grappling hooks and hooked them onto the wooden fortified village, preparing to pull it open.

A barrage of bombs was thrown haphazardly out of the fortress. After several violent explosions, the cavalrymen who had thrown their grappling hooks at close range were blown to pieces and hurriedly dropped their hooks and retreated.

Seeing that bombs were still effective against cavalry, the slaves on the city walls were suddenly in high spirits and forgot about crossbows. As they stood up and cheered, a large number of them were shot down.

Yun Ce glanced at the battle situation. Since the stronghold was not in danger of being breached in the short term, he urged his chestnut horse forward, preparing to rescue that foolish woman from the fierce battle.

The cavalry seemed to have figured out Yun Ce's intentions. A squad of cavalrymen blocked Yun Ce's path. The bearded cavalryman at the head of the squad actually used his body to meet Yun Ce's spear the moment it pierced his body. After the spear pierced his body, he held onto the spear tightly with both hands. No matter how Yun Ce shook him, he could not break free.

Four crossbow bolts shot out silently from behind him, heading straight for Yun Ce's chest and abdomen. The arrowheads of the bolts gleamed, indicating they were armor-piercing spikes specifically designed for penetrating armor.

With his spear held captive, Yun Ce casually tossed it aside, then swept his left-hand saber across, sending a head flying and spinning as it landed on the grass.

Four imperceptible silver threads gently deflected the armor-piercing spikes, sending them grazing Yun Ce's body and flying backward. Yun Ce's saber had already slashed down like a bolt of lightning. The cavalrymen holding crossbows looked at the saber in despair and met it with their own crossbows.

(End of this chapter)