Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 155 A Warm Example

Cao Kun had very white teeth and a bright smile. The essence of youth was in his eyes, which were like spring water, containing all the beauty and hope.

He envied Yun Ce for capturing the Gale Beast. He liked Yun Ce for cooking the Gale Beast with Baby Beans. He liked Yun Ce for giving him the enemy heads he had taken from the battlefield. Finally, he was beaten to a pulp by Yun Ce with a crudely made broken meteor hammer. Although he felt sad, he still admired Yun Ce.

Therefore, Cao Kun was a well-educated and kind-hearted scion of a prominent family.

Not only was the night cold, but it was also boring, so Yun Ce took out a delicate little stove, put a ceramic pot on it, and filled it with a lot of salted vegetables, dried tofu, dried meat, and beans.

Cao Kun's nonsense poured out like a river bursting its banks, and Yun Ce occasionally responded with a word or two, interspersed with the gurgling sound of mixed porridge.

"So, Brother Yun plans to build a great city in this wasteland?"

"Yes, the name has been chosen. It will be called Yuncheng."

"I remember you just said that the population of this city should exceed one million?"

"This is just the requirement of a ten-year plan. I also have a fifteen-year plan, a twenty-year plan, and a plan every five years. I will definitely take it one step at a time."

"Oh, I really look forward to seeing it in this magnificent city."

"You will see that I have just reclaimed 300,000 mu of land, and I plan to cultivate 200,000 mu by slash-and-burn method and 100,000 mu by intensive farming. Before the lotus month next year, I will be able to get the first batch of income."

"At that time, I will sell the grain grown here to Tiewei Pass, and use the money to recruit more people and cultivate more land..."

Is building a magnificent city really that simple?

"That's right. Getting things done is such a simple thing. How complicated do you think it would be?"

“That’s not right. The old man always told me that when doing something, you must plan carefully before you act, and you can’t just do things on a whim like you do.”

"That's because they're too old. When people get old, they become much more timid. Think about it, so what if I fail?"

"Yes, rushing things will definitely lead to failure."

"If I fail, I fail. I'm still young, I can afford to fail, and I can always start over."

"Hey, what you said seems to make a lot of sense. We're young, we can afford to fail, and we can just start over. Why didn't I think of that before? I was only thinking about how to get things done in one go."

Yun Ce scooped a bowl of mixed stew with a wooden spoon and handed it to Cao Kun. He also filled a bowl for himself and ate it slowly. In the cold weather, a mouthful of piping hot mixed stew was a rare treat, even if the taste wasn't great.

Cao Kun took a sip of porridge, then stopped using the wooden spoon in his hand, looked up at Yun Ce, as if there was something he couldn't say.

Yun Ce took out another wooden bowl from the saddlebag and handed it to Cao Kun.

With a beaming smile, Cao Kun immediately scooped a full bowl of porridge from the earthenware jar, shielded it with his sleeve, and ran towards the tent where the old steward was.

A moment later, Cao Kun returned, quickly finished his porridge, and said to Yun Ce sullenly, "The old man scolded me."

Yun Ce chuckled and said, "We're already encamped, and you're still running around. According to military regulations, you should be beheaded, not just scolded."

"It seems the old steward has entrusted you to me. Now, quickly put on your armor; I reckon the Guifang troops will attack the camp soon."

Cao Kun was overjoyed and jumped up, exclaiming, "I can kill the enemy now?"

Yun Ce frowned and said, "You still want to kill ten generals, or even a hundred generals?"

Cao Kun shook his head repeatedly and said, "Kill the lowly soldiers."

"What if ten or a hundred generals were disguised as common soldiers?"

"Could they really be that shameless?"

"Will do."

"Then can you just pick a real soldier and throw him over for me to kill?"

"roll--"

"Alright, I know this isn't a good idea. Let me tell you, the old steward replaced all the grain on the outermost wagons with sand. If the Guifang people take away the outermost wagons, don't try to take them back."

Watching Cao Kun leave, Yun Ce sighed, then put on his helmet, stab-proof gloves, slung his bow and arrows over his shoulder, picked up his lance, and left the camp, standing in the position most likely to be attacked.

Yun Ce understood that the old steward was using him as a role model for Cao Kun. Whether he fought bravely and relentlessly or fled in the face of battle and became a coward, he could provide Cao Kun with ample practical experience. This would be extremely useful for Cao Kun's future life, after all, it was a test of life and death, and the answers obtained would not only be realistic but also have sufficient educational value.

The old steward had anticipated the arrival of the Guifang people tonight, and he seemed to have made all the necessary preparations. However, when the blood moon rose, the old steward was still greatly surprised, because he suddenly discovered that a mist had risen over the plateau. This mist drifted very high, obscuring the blood moon, making the earth not only very dark, but also prone to creating double images.

"ignition!"

At the old steward's command, a hundred or so round lanterns were thrown out of the chariot formation by the warriors. The lanterns rolled a hundred paces away and then stopped. Some of the lanterns suddenly burst into flames, with flames shooting up more than two zhang high. The bright pillars of fire illuminated the surrounding area in white.

Sure enough, not far from the pillar of fire, stood a large, dark mass of Guifang people. If it weren't for the light from the lampball, these dark Guifang people would not have been noticed.

"The scouts are finished." This was the first thought that came to Yun Ce's mind.

Immediately, the samurai leader shouted, "Crossbow bolts, horizontal shot, three-stage attack!"

The order did not mention any fixed military units, which meant that the order applied to everyone. So, Yun Ce took down his bow and arrow and, as instructed by the warrior leader, completed a three-shot burst in an instant.

Using the still-burning pillars of fire as a guide, Yun Ce could clearly see that the horizontal shots and the three-stage attacks were ineffective. The dark-skinned enemies were carrying equally dark shields. The crossbow bolts struck the shields, sending countless sparks flying in the darkness, but ultimately they were all in vain.

However, it cannot be said that it had no effect. At least, Yun Ce's three arrows killed three burly men who were clearly the vanguard, because Yun Ce's arrows, propelled by the powerful bow, could pierce through shields.

"Crossbow, three-stage volley, horizontal shot." The samurai leader's flat voice, devoid of even intonation, rang out again.

Knowing full well that such shooting was utterly useless, why did he still do it? The thought had barely crossed his mind when Yun Ce suppressed it, drew three arrows, and fired them in an instant.

In an instant, arrows flew like locusts across the battlefield, and the sound of arrows piercing the air could be heard everywhere.

Three arrows pierced the throats of the three vanguards once again, but the dense "whoosh" sound was too dense. Yun Ce raised his head in surprise and saw a rain of arrows falling from above the heads of the Gui Fang people.

Seeing the rain of arrows, Yun Ce felt he had learned something. He used the skirmishers' arrows to fire in parallel, luring the enemy to raise their giant shields in front of them. Then, he quietly slipped out and ordered the archers to launch the arrows, making the rain of arrows more lethal to the enemy.

As expected, the samurai leader's plan was very successful. When the arrows fell to the ground, a large number of Oni warriors were hit, and their previously intact charging formation was immediately disrupted.

The first wave of arrows had already thrown the Guifang forces into chaos, and the second wave of arrows naturally followed quickly, this time with the focus on inflicting casualties.

Just when Yun Ce thought this volley of arrows would yield great results, he suddenly heard a continuous stream of shouts coming from the Ghost Fang army's formation.

"Awooo, awooo, awooo..."

A hundred or so gleaming, flaming flying wheels were hurled high into the air from the army formation. These rapidly spinning wheels collided with the rain of arrows in mid-air, scattering the arrows in all directions. Many more arrows were even shattered by the flying wheels.

Yun Ce glanced at the Gui Fang troops who had already rushed towards the chariot formation and shouted, "Form ranks! Attack!"

After shouting, he thrust his lance fiercely through the specially left gap. The feeling was quite subtle; the lance blade seemed to pierce through a piece of clothing, or rather, a water bag, with almost no resistance. When he withdrew the lance, he found that the blade was stained red with blood.

Advanced martial arts techniques are not very useful at this time. At best, one can strike faster than others, and each strike can kill the enemy.

The wagon formation was already very familiar to the Han troops. On the enemy's side, the heavy wagons were erected high, becoming an obstacle for the enemy, while the wagons on their side were laid down, making it easy to get on and off. This gave the defending troops a significant high-position advantage.

Yun Ce vaguely remembered that this kind of chariot formation warfare should have appeared long after the Han Dynasty, not during the Han Dynasty itself. In later eras, this thing had a special name called the side-box chariot.

Although it's impressive to be able to think clearly amidst the chaos of war, Yun Ce still jumped onto the sidecar immediately. The swift-moving Gui Fang soldiers had already formed bridges on the other side of the sidecar with their shields and men, and the brave Gui Fang soldiers were already shouting as they launched a fierce attack on the sidecar along these bridges.

This is troublesome. Yun Ce had just stood on the side cart and lifted a burly Gui Fang soldier up and slammed him onto the human bridge when a Gui Fang soldier below ambushed him with a spear.

Therefore, Yun Ce had to divide his attention into two groups: one to protect his right-hand lance, which he could use to slash and kill enemies, and the other to protect his left-hand saber, killing any enemies who tried to ambush him.

Yun Ce's martial arts skills were far superior to those of the other guards. He not only had to guard his own defensive area, but also often had to take care of the defensive areas of his comrades. In a short time, wherever Yun Ce went, not only did the blood of the Gui Fang people flow like rivers, but their heads also rolled around.

After killing for half an hour straight, Yun Ce not only didn't feel tired, but for some reason even felt somewhat refreshed.

"Am I crazy? Why am I getting more and more excited as I kill more?"

"Hehehe, I knew you were bloodthirsty. Your whole family must be bloodthirsty. Others would feel uncomfortable facing mountains of corpses and seas of blood, but you would feel great. You are a perverted freak."

But that's alright, in this world, you can't achieve anything without being abnormal or even mad.

　I can't write about twisted psychology, so I'll have to change it to something heartwarming for everyone to see.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)