Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 32 The Grief-Stricken General

It rained all night, and since the nights here are very long, by daybreak the downpour had turned into a drizzle, and by the time the drizzle stopped, the wasteland under the trees had become a vast expanse of water.

The body of the person shot last night is gone; it must have been washed away by the water.

Yun Ce didn't understand why, since he had discovered the firelight here yesterday, he didn't bring a group of people with him, but instead chose to risk it all alone.

The doubt had barely arisen when he banished it from his mind. He was too busy worrying about the living to care about the dead.

Overnight, the trees on the wasteland turned white. It must have been that spiders or similar insects, having nowhere else to go after being washed away by the water, climbed the trees, causing the trees in Yun Ce's field of vision to be covered in white overnight.

Only the large tree where Yun Ce stood remained lush and green, standing out brightly on the shimmering wasteland.

It's not just insects that like to climb trees during floods; snakes and similar creatures also do. Other large trees are covered with snakes and similar things, their tendrils entwined around the branches, a sight that is truly terrifying.

The reason Yun Ce's place lacks venomous insects is entirely due to the presence of the even more terrifying venom of the multi-legged snake. Applying a small amount of this to the tree trunk will drive snakes and insects far away.
Yun Ce looked around through his binoculars and realized that his goal of witnessing human warfare was likely to be thwarted. No one would be foolish enough to fight in the water; Pang De in the Three Kingdoms period was only fighting out of necessity.

However, they couldn't leave now, so they had no choice but to continue living in the tree with Eji.

The tree was very tall. After Yun Ce went to the top of the tree and used binoculars to look at the surrounding environment, he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

Last night, during the torrential rain, he was still doubting the intelligence of the generals. Now, after seeing the battlefield environment, he has to admire how they not only accurately selected a battlefield that was advantageous to them before the battle, but also turned the negative factors brought by the heavy rain into favorable ones.

In wilderness warfare, every direction is a must-defend area. Now, with this anticipated limited flood, the wilderness area will be greatly reduced, and the areas occupied by the flood will become a natural dividing line between the two sides. At the same time, the defensive front will be reduced significantly, and the forces available for frontal combat will increase.

In Yun Ce's view, the attacking general was highly skilled.

Yun Ce cooked a large pot of bean porridge early in the morning, intending to eat this all day to fill his stomach, so as not to miss some classic scenes.

When a group of people appeared on the eastern horizon in the rain, Yun Ce's heart skipped a beat. This group of people still did not have the awareness to fight. Rather than an army, they were more like a group of refugees who had come together. Not only were there men, women, and children, but the weapons they carried were also varied and looked more like daily tools than weapons.

Yun Ce watched helplessly as they plunged into the treacherous area between two streams. He couldn't help but shout a few words, but unfortunately, they were too far away to hear him.

This was a very lively group of people. Some women dressed in traditional Chinese dresses even danced on the water's edge, untying their armbands and spreading their arms wide to let the wind billow as they sang and danced.

After shouting a few times, Yun Ce climbed down from the treetop, returned to the raft, filled a bowl with bean porridge, and slurped it down.

"Weren't you going to watch the show? Why aren't you watching anymore?" Eji asked, as she was squatting on the raft and couldn't see the tragedy that was about to unfold.

"It doesn't look good."

Why doesn't it look good?

"Because they're not serious."

"Does something have to be taken seriously to look good?"

"That's right, serious people die in a more pleasing way than others."

Eji didn't understand what Yun Ce was saying. Seeing that he had finished a bowl of porridge, she poured him another bowl. Yun Ce hesitated for a moment, then took the bowl and prepared to continue drinking.

In the distance, the faint sound of drums could be heard. The drums were intense and somewhat impassioned. Although they didn't require much playing skill, they were sufficient to command the army.

Small ripples appeared in the water, indicating that the cavalry had been dispatched.

Yun Ce slowly ate his bean porridge, feeling that the battle there might be over once he finished two bowls.

Eji took the empty bowl, collected some rainwater from the dent in the tent, washed the wooden bowl clean, and saw Yun Ce squatting on the raft watching the giant snakes swimming in the water. She felt that he seemed a little sad, so she smiled and said, "I'll go with you to the tree to watch the fun."

"No, I'll see for myself." Yun Ce climbed back up to the treetop, leaned against a very flexible branch, and raised his binoculars to observe the battlefield.

After seeing the entire battlefield, the situation was somewhat beyond Yun Ce's expectations. The joyful refugees did not collapse under the cavalry's charge, but instead formed a square formation, wielding long, sharp weapons and fighting the cavalry to a standstill.

The fact that the cavalry could not break through the refugees' formation shows that the cavalry lacked the determination to charge to the death, and that the refugees were not overwhelmed by the cavalry because they had no fear.

The cavalry slowed down and stopped on the narrow islet, instantly reducing their fighting strength by 90%.

As the cavalrymen were forced to retreat slowly by the refugees wielding long weapons, Yun Ce spat into the water, apologizing for his earlier casual conjecture.

Now, if some of the refugees could charge the cavalry with heavy weapons like axes, and if that caused the cavalry to rout, then the battle might be won.

Generally speaking, the victorious side always manages to accurately time their moves to victory, while the defeated side always has countless reasons for their defeat.

Sure enough, a group of men wielding thick wooden clubs sprang out from behind the long-weapon formation and began to whack the cavalrymen who were struggling to cope with the long weapons.

This was quite a sight. The cavalrymen fell off their horses one after another, abandoning their fighting, and scrambled into the shallow water on both sides. They dared not venture too far into the shallow water, and waited motionless until the water was almost up to their necks for rescue. If they did not move, something else would naturally move, and they did not want the things soaking in the water to find them. After the deserters realized that they were snakes and insects of various colors, they started to move again, and soon they were dragged into the water by their heavy armor.

"What kind of cavalry is this?!" With the battle going on like this, Yun Ce began to worry about his clever general.

Fortunately, a dense rain of arrows flew over, shooting down many of the men carrying wooden clubs. Those wielding long pole weapons continued to advance, holding the wooden rafts in one hand and the long poles in the other.

Such long poles are not very lethal. If the infantrymen over there could bravely advance, they could win as soon as they got close to these people wielding long poles.

For some reason, the clever general refused to send out swordsmen and shieldmen to fight, allowing those who had survived with wooden clubs to escape behind the long-pole soldiers. As a result, a strange scene unfolded on the battlefield: the long-pole soldiers bravely advanced, continuing to squeeze the few remaining cavalrymen, while the cavalrymen retreated, piling up the infantry behind them. The watery battlefield that the clever general had painstakingly designed had become his own abyss.

When the refugees, men, women, and children, carrying all sorts of household items, surged forward like a tidal wave, the cavalrymen rode their horses to the flooded areas on both sides. The infantry behind them, for some unknown reason, dropped their shields and weapons and turned to run away.

The refugees were fierce; they killed the wounded and surrendered soldiers with various weapons, and then began to rob them of their weapons, clothes, and other necessities.

This was a very low-level battle, and Yun Ce was somewhat disappointed.

The general chose a good battlefield, the timing of the attack was excellent, and he even moved his valuable archers from the rear to behind the cavalry – all highlights of the battle.

Despite having cavalry, armor, weapons, archers, and a brilliant commander, they still lost.

This farcical war ultimately proved only one thing: on the battlefield, the human factor is the most important.

The soldiers ran as fast as they could, but the general under the big flag stood as tall as a mountain. Despite his loud shouts and even killing two deserters with his long sword, the deserters continued to run away, just avoiding the general to avoid being killed by him.

The general began his charge, single-handedly charging against the fleeing deserters. His relentless, pig-like charge, leaving himself no room for retreat, revealed the extent of his rage.

The refugees had become bolder because of this battle. Even when facing a powerful general, a skinny refugee dared to raise a rake and fight. In just one exchange, he was cleaved in two by the general's blade. Then came the second, the third, the fourth...

Even as the long-armored soldiers closed in, the general, who was already bloodthirsty, did not choose to flee but continued to fight. He used his armored body as a battering ram, smashing through the long-armored soldiers' defenses and unleashing a bloodbath in the crowd.

Yun Ce watched for a long time, and finally sighed. If this general hadn't been exhausted, he could have ended the war and won it all by himself.

Watching helplessly as the general's weapons were stolen, his armor was stripped away by the refugees, his clothes were removed, his arms were cut off, his knees were gouged out, his ears were cut off as war trophies, and his remaining body was thrown into the water, Yun Ce finally climbed down from the treetop, scooped out another bowl of bean porridge from the earthenware pot, and ate it slowly.

This war left Yun Ce in a bad mood. Although he believed that it was wrong for the government soldiers to kill refugees, seeing such weak government soldiers made Yun Ce worry about the Han people in this world.

With such an army, can the people of the Han Dynasty really sleep soundly?

Although many of the refugees who had robbed the soldiers died, they went off to chase after the deserters, singing and dancing. Only the body of the general, who could no longer live, was floating face up with the current toward Yun Ce. Even from a distance, Yun Ce could hear the general's miserable cries.

　Thank you, brothers and sisters, I'm getting better. This is a great book, so please don't be stingy with your monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and follow-up reading! I, Jie2, will definitely not disappoint you. Love you all, Jie2
　　
　
(End of this chapter)