Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 127 "Enter, Exhibit, Take"

After annihilating Su Zhe's unit, Wu Fei dispatched a sergeant from Beijing whose temperament was similar to Su Dong's, to deceive and launch a surprise attack on Shengyan City.

The sergeant was shy and felt he couldn't do the job well, so Wu Fei called over the servant who had come with him. This servant was very quick-witted, and his current rank was only half a rank lower than his former master's.

Wu Fei: "Teach your young master to pretend to be a freeloader and try to scam people."

Compared to his master, this servant was much more experienced in the ways of the world. He quickly said, "General, rest assured, we, master and servant, will certainly not fail in our mission." Then he patted his young master and said, "Young master, it's alright. I'll go with you."

This man was once the son of a slave, but now he is his young master's "blood brother." The two are of one mind and share the same blood.

Sergeant Nushengzi could see that if this matter was handled well, it would be a great achievement, and he couldn't let his foolish young master push this task away.

Wu Fei glanced at the two men and instructed them, "If you do well, you'll be rewarded; if you do poorly—" Wu Fei tapped the helmet of the young master sergeant before joining the army, "you'd better summarize your failure report properly and read it aloud to the entire army. Don't expect him (the former servant) to do this for you."

Although the servant appeared more capable than his master, and the military valued merit, Wu Fei still tried to ensure the young master's rank was slightly higher than the servant's. The reason was simple: compared to the smooth-talking officer from a servant background, this young master, raised with a strong sense of honor and shame from a prestigious family, knew right from wrong. This was crucial in learning from military setbacks. A new army's attitude towards defeat is more critical than its attitude towards victory.

…Xuan Chong: In the future, dealing with Tongji won't be a guaranteed victory, will it?…

After Wu Fei dispatched this 800-man unit, he arranged for other patrol teams to begin blocking the news along the river.

This is where the advantage of the "cross the river to start the war" decision became apparent. The routed Hao army could only flee towards Su Dong, not towards Sheng Yan City. This meant that Sheng Yan City would receive the news later. And the tighter the news was blocked, the higher the probability of being deceived.

After personally studying the communication system, Wu Fei discovered that the various battalions of traditional military strategists were quite inadequate in terms of information exchange. For example, on Wu Fei's side, communication between battalions required dedicated communications soldiers and a set of codes.

Of course, in a feudal interpersonal environment, being tactful is essential, making it difficult to maintain professionalism. After all, subordinates dare not discuss principles with their superiors.

Instilling these principles requires strict rewards and punishments to a certain extent, with each rule having a clear evaluation criteria.

…Deception is a classic Eastern tactic; if you don't like it, don't play it…

Three hours later, Wu Fei of Wangjiadu received a message from the messenger that Shengyan City had been captured. He then dispatched three teams of conscripted farmers to quickly enter the city and—in addition—summoned the local powerful families he had bribed to enter the city to tally the loot.

Of course, Wu Fei still emphasized two points: ensure the treasury is sealed and do not disturb the wealthy households in the city. —After all, it was obtained through deception, and the people haven't even resisted yet.

Wu Fei wouldn't enslave all the people of these cities that were tricked into surrendering, but once the situation stabilized, the wealthy families would have to take on the corvée labor. After all, they would no longer be of any value to the political cause then.

After June 18, with Wu Fei annihilating Su Zhe's unit and capturing Shengyan City, he began to close the door on Su Dong's troops and beat them.

Within this 72-kilometer-long war zone, the aura of heaven and earth shifted from fierce confrontation to one side tightly enveloping the other. From the sky, the surrounding area was bathed in bright sunshine, while an ominous dark cloud hung above Hao Jun's head.

…The defense of Deer Horn City begins…

Under the gloomy sky, at the foot of Deer Horn City, Su Dong, who was under siege, received the news and immediately clutched his chest.

He was prepared for Su Zhe's unsuccessful start.

However, he was prepared for the following scenario: after Su Zhe's troops entered Shengyan City, the procurement of supplies would slow down; or they might be intercepted by the Yao army, making the delivery efficiency slower.

But to his utter surprise, his son's entire army was wiped out, and Shengyan City was captured by Wu Fei! This was like a gambler betting a large sum of money to get his money back, only to have it confiscated by the police as soon as he put it out.

In the camp, he clutched his chest and forced himself to calm down. This time, he promptly ordered the news to be blocked and sent his personal guards to gather and detain all those who might report the news on the roads behind the camp.

After catching his breath, Su Zhe stood up, leaning on the table for support. Looking at the city of Lujiao, which was now under his siege, he decided to take another gamble. At his command, the entire army began to jog forward. Along the way, his personal guards whipped the troops with their whips, while the Hao soldiers below complained, "Why are we running so fast? No one's going to open the gates for us."

The siege of Deer Horn City began, and its Jade Lions were the first to launch an attack. Under a hail of bullets, they smashed through the seemingly poorly constructed low walls. Later, Haotian's Jade Warriors watched as the Jade Lions' headbutts, like wild boars digging through a wooden fence, burrowed in and cheered in unison.

But the cheers abruptly ceased. A rumbling sound, like a steel coil rolling on the ground, came from the breach in the city walls.

With a loud "crack," like a rock exploding, a large iron lion appeared at the breach, charging forward. The scene was like an iron hammer smashing an ice block, instantly shattering the ice into numerous fragments.

The jade lion was like an ice block that had been struck; half of its head shattered instantly, and beams of light leaked out from inside the broken lion's head, which was the effect of the dissipation of divination energy.

Then the iron lion's terrifying bite force gripped the jade lion's leg, and with a crunching sound, it bit it off in one bite.

The difference between the Haotian Jade Lion and the Great Yao Iron Lion in terms of mass and the capacity to contain malevolent energy is like the difference between a bean tank and a tiger king. The iron lion used its hardest head to strike the jade lion, creating spiderweb-like cracks in the glass with each blow.

In the past few years, during several battles between Haotian and Dayao, the Jade Lion could only rely on its speed to dodge and fight at the same time.

Hao Jun had two instances of defeating the Iron Lion. In two of them, the impact was stopped by terracotta warriors, and then the Dragon Guards destroyed them with halberds. In the other instance, the Iron Lion was overwhelmed by the same level of the Guardian Beast.

Su Dong never expected that Yao Jun had ambushed the Iron Lion behind the city wall. His eyes widened in disbelief, and the phrase he used to describe Zhao Cheng as "cunning in military tactics" was now being applied to this general of Yao Jun.

Of course, he wouldn't say that he sent the Jade Lion to attack those seemingly vulnerable low-lying city wall areas—Wu Fei: I didn't repair such obvious flaws, just waiting for you to step on them.

The jade lions that rushed in were immediately knocked away as soon as they poked their heads out; the impact, as seen from outside the city, was as if they were sucked in. Then came the second, third, and fourth jade lions sent in by Haojun, all of which suffered dizzying impacts inside.

From the perspective of the city, two iron lions are ambushed on each side of the gap. After confirming that a large enemy unit will enter from here, they will rush to the left and right along the fixed track and then just pass each other.

The jade lions that rushed in were hit on the left in the first round, and on the right in the back. The jade lions started to spin clockwise. Before they could stop spinning, the iron lions on both sides had already turned around and were colliding again. This time, the head was hit on the right and the back was hit on the left, and they were now spinning counterclockwise.

The clockwise and counterclockwise movements conflicted, causing the cracks on the jade lion's waist to spread rapidly.

This created a spectacular scene of the Haotian siege forces operating like an ice shaving machine around the breach in the city wall. Their back-and-forth attacks forced the Haotian army to split up, while the high walls suddenly unleashed a volley of fire at these flanking Haotian soldiers.

Gun bullets rained down from the wall, their trajectories resembling the strings of a harp.

The troops of Hao Kingdom felt increasingly tired after approaching the city wall by about a hundred paces, because the path seemed to be getting more and more difficult to traverse; every four or five steps there was a bamboo stubble about half a hand's width high, as tall as grass, and a slight misstep could cause them to stumble, so they couldn't run fast at all. Moreover, the ranks were becoming more and more loose as they marched.

This despicable thing was naturally Wu Fei's doing. As someone from his previous life, he knew that sudden elevation changes on the road were the easiest way for people to trip. So he had the able-bodied men in the city use Luoyang shovels to dig pits, then bury half a meter of bamboo with the top sticking out, creating multiple "tripping zones." The areas without "tripping zones" were now under the crossfire of the city walls.

Sure enough, the Hao Army soldiers, who were walking on the "right path," suddenly found themselves advancing too far ahead. A barrage of bullets came flying at them, and then the people next to them bleeded from their chests and fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, the friendly forces on the side were very "cowardly," crawling down to take cover, which infuriated the Hao soldiers who were moving ahead. As they rushed forward, they tripped and fell, only then realizing why the friendly forces in these areas were moving so slowly.

The half-hour siege yielded no results; the Hao army could only retreat. However, just as they were about to escape the musket firing range, a sudden gust of wind arose, whipping up a meter-high dust wave. Accompanied by a sweltering heat, the dust swept in all directions.

A nine-headed bird swooped down and took flight before it even touched the ground. Although it did not attack, it completely scattered Haotian's group.

Nine Phoenix's feigned attack caused no real damage, but the oppressive aura of the colossal beast hovering in the sky instantly extinguished the morale of Hao's siege army. Consequently, the four or five hundred remaining soldiers fled back.
After these Hao troops withdrew, Su Dong wanted to organize and arrange the next round of siege, but somehow the news of his son's complete annihilation and the capture of Shengyan City spread, and the military camp was filled with various factions urging him to abdicate.

Why does it spread? It will spread wherever there are people.

Those who knew about the setback in the siege were under immense pressure and couldn't help but consult with some of their close friends.

Insider: "I'm telling you, you absolutely mustn't tell anyone!" Another person: "I know, I definitely won't spread it to anyone else."

Some of Su Dong's personal guards didn't intend to betray their commander, but the series of defeats left them feeling uncertain about their future, so they were gloomy and, while drinking with other "friends" in the tent, unknowingly discussed these long-held secrets. Thus, the news of their retreat being cut off weighed heavily on the hearts of everyone in the army, like the lingering pressure of the nine phoenixes in the sky on the besieging troops.

With instability permeating the camp, Su Dong had no choice but to obey the crowd and lead his troops back to reinforce the camp. However, this "order" was not something he wanted to give; it was a "vote-based decision" (forced confession) within the army. Regardless of whether this reinforcement was wise, from this moment on, the army's authority began to crumble.

…The following moments will be a nightmare for the Haotian troops…

Three days later, when the army was crossing the river again, they were ambushed by Wu Fei. This sparse and sporadic march of ten miles could not have been left unambushed without the Dongshi Army's current strong execution capabilities.

Because the troops were dragging their feet and looked like a typical defeated army, Wu Fei's army appeared on the east side after Su Dong led his elite troops across the river first.

Seeing the dust rising, Su Dong prepared to assemble his troops for battle, waiting for the main force to converge behind him. However! Half an hour later, instead of the main force arriving, he witnessed the river rise and the tide change.

Su Dong stared in astonishment at the sudden appearance of the white line in the river above: "Why is the River God treating me so badly?"

Meanwhile, Wu Fei, who was in a standoff, let out a long sigh and shook his head: "Your dawdling makes the operation much simpler?"

Note: Just like in a second-rate company, if you call people down for a group photo, without the lure of small gifts and if it's not an authoritative leader calling people, it will take four or five calls to get everyone together, and it will take half an hour to take one photo.

Su Dong's troops lost their cohesion, and the march turned into a chaotic tourist parade. He led the way, with his several camps following behind, stopping and starting intermittently. Therefore, when engaging in battle at the front, it was necessary to call for reinforcements to return to their positions.

The battlefield is precisely a river. Wu Fei never thought he could one day emulate Han Xin's strategy of releasing water, because after repeated simulations, he believed that the timing of releasing water in a river was uncontrollable. If the enemy troops had already crossed the river before the water started flowing, it would be a laughing stock.

However, with Su Dong's army falling into such a sorry state, the uncontrollable situation has become controllable.

Many of Wu Fei's officers made this suggestion. One officer, whose ancestors were said to be officials in charge of river management in the imperial court, confidently assured that he knew how to build a dam.

Looking at these guys from "spoiled" backgrounds, Wu Fei was surprised to find that they were all well-educated.

These sergeants had already developed a sense of confidence to "make things happen." After assessing the enemy's capabilities and understanding the execution level of the military aviation team, they were all eager to get started.

So, just two days before Su Dong arrived, the Dongshi army mobilized five thousand able-bodied men to work, and the men used small boats that had been requisitioned to transport materials.

First, fill a bamboo basket with soil, then mix in "Xirang powder," which is a solidified powder similar to cement gypsum. This forms a half-meter-high submerged dam at the bottom of the upstream water. As a result, the upstream water is stopped here and accumulates into a half-meter-high water mound.

Note that this does not mean blocking the river, but rather trapping a large area of ​​water, while a trickle of water still flows downstream.

While the dam was being built, Wu Fei also implemented an information blockade, sending scouts to both sides of Su Dong to ambush and kill sentries.

Of course, the scouts sent out by Su Dong in the past few days were also very sensible. After confirming the presence of the East Market Army scouts on the left and right sides, they consciously retreated without any intention of actively observing. They adopted a peaceful coexistence spirit of "I can't see you, you can't see me, you haven't appeared, I haven't come."

Wu Fei felt his "professional ethics had been insulted" and couldn't help but comment: This is extremely abnormal in a normal army; it only happens in a rout where the command structure has collapsed. The scouts didn't find any information; clearly, they didn't do their job!

Just like in observation, if the instrument data doesn't change for several days, it doesn't mean the "observed phenomenon" is extremely stable; it means the instrument is broken. In this case, the leader (observer) must immediately repeat the observation. Scouts are like the observation instruments for the army.

…Wu Xiaoque didn't want to include this victory in her textbook because the opposing team was too unprofessional…

After the standoff between Wu and Fei began, the infantry upstream received the signal from the smoke and fire. The infantry at the water dam immediately made a spell, and the Gui Water Rune was activated. A strong acidic liquid appeared in the bamboo basket, and some reed leaves were decomposed. The Xirang powder wrapped in the reed leaves immediately began to hydrolyze.

Regarding the instantaneous disintegration of "Xirang powder," Wu Fei speculated that it was due to a special chemical mechanism that undermined molecular stability. Of course, the system doesn't teach the chemistry here.

In the bamboo basket fixed upstream, the "soil-fixing powder" that had solidified the soil suddenly dissolved. Immediately afterwards, the originally hard clods of soil in the entire bamboo basket turned into soft mud, and the earthen dam that had been blocking the flow of water at the bottom of the river immediately "melted," resulting in this wave.

The rolling waves submerged the area four or five meters below the ferry crossing within minutes, and the water overflowed the soil on the shore, creating a large amount of yellowish-brown foam.

As for Su Dong, after a two-hour standoff at the foolish and inexplicable place, he finally realized that he was standing on low ground, while half of the troops who had responded to the "call for reinforcements" order were still on the riverbank. Those in the middle of the river, caught in the first wave of the flood, hurriedly ran towards the banks, but some horses were unable to escape in time, and after four breaths of the flood, the people had disappeared without a trace due to the impact of the water.

Meanwhile, Wu Fei issued an attack order, launching an attack on Su Dong's troops who were trapped in the swamp.

After the first volley of musket fire, Su Dong's troops on the riverbank completely collapsed. The bullets continued to sweep across the ranks, and men were killed one by one. A few brave men charged towards the enemy lines, but their calves were obstructed by the river water, forcing them to constantly pull their legs, making it impossible to advance. The further they charged, the more they were riddled with bullets by Dong Shi's musketeers. One after another, wounded corpses fell into the water, their heavy armor sinking to the bottom, becoming obstacles that tripped up their allies.

Twenty minutes of gunfire engulfed the battlefield, and in the end, Su Dong led a small number of troops to escape along the direction of the flood. After all, Wu Fei would not send the main force into the water for the sake of pursuit.

More importantly, Su Dong escaped, leaving the large force on the other side with tens of thousands of men leaderless. They should cover the cavalry as they cross the river to pursue him.

…Three days later…

Su Dong led over a hundred riders in a hasty retreat. After running for a day, they encountered five goats grazing and a shepherd.

Su Dong sent men to give chase, but the shepherd ran away in a flash, disappearing into a village by the roadside. Su Dong's men captured the five sheep, and were exhausted and hungry. However, they hadn't taken an iron pot with them when they fled, and couldn't find any firewood in time, so they followed them into the village.

When Su Dong entered the village, he found it deserted, not even the shepherd. He figured they must have all fled after hearing about the soldiers.

Although some people sensed something was wrong, there was firewood in the village and clear water in the well. Once the person rested and his strength subsided, he found it difficult to move.

Just as Su Dong lit the chimney in the village, the surrounding villages received the signal. The villagers, who had come together, took spears and surrounded the village along with the sent laborers.

…the Yao army still has a mass base…

Wu Fei had already made arrangements for the interception.

There's no need to send Guan Yu to block the route of fleeing, terrified soldiers; that's fiction. Without supernatural powers, a general, starving and exhausted after a rout, could be killed by a farmer with a hoe.

After Su Dong finished eating, he suddenly sensed a commotion outside the village and was alarmed, thinking that pursuers were approaching. However, while entering the village was easy, it would be difficult to quickly regroup and leave the village once they had dismounted.

The elite troops, who would normally rout ten times the number of peasants in open field battles, were utterly crushed at the village entrance. A massive stone mill was pushed to the village entrance, where it collided head-on with the bronze lion cavalry preparing to leave the village, sending those majestic beasts sprawling into the air.

Then came a barrage of crossbow bolts, and they retreated back into the village.

…After the sun set, a pack of dogs blocked the village entrance and barked wildly…

Ten hours later, Jupiter arrived with the reserve team. Seeing the stubborn resistance inside the earthen wall, and having failed to persuade them to surrender, they prepared for a strong attack.

Outside the village, everyone donned triple-layered iron armor, armed to the neck, and wielded heavy axes. After eating half a meal, they had divine power talismans affixed to their backs, receiving various combat buffs before setting up an altar to perform a ritual. Once the entire village was arrayed in four directions, damp firewood was lit, and thick smoke, carried by the wind from the ritual, poured into the village. The armored soldiers charged in through the open gates and out through the rest and life gates.

Amidst the thick smoke and shouts of battle, the heavy axe infantrymen were like meat grinders.

Bloodied survivors continued to escape, along with some wounded armored soldiers who retreated.

Finally, with a dragon's roar, the village trembled violently, and a giant three zhang tall rose from the village. This man was Su Dong. In a desperate situation, he activated his still immature dragon bloodline, kicked away the earthen wall of the village, and attempted to break through the formation.

Seeing this, Jupiter gave the order to have the spearmen block the main road to prevent the remaining Hao army troops from escaping; while the musketeers waiting on the side stood up, lined up and advanced, and fired in unison when they were within thirty paces.

At the six-meter-wide area at the west entrance of the village, Su Dong's dragon-human form was shot by muskets, causing his scales to fall off and his face to bleed profusely. Finally, he was hooked to the ground by a halberd.

(End of this chapter)