Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 233 Who Will Rule the World
On June 27th of the 5th year of the Zhengtong calendar, the reckless Ghost King encountered the vanguard army of the Zhen Kingdom, which was rapidly advancing to within ten miles of him.

He immediately ordered his troops to advance rapidly. Having already lost the opportunity to join forces with the troops of Jizhou, he showed no remorse; instead, he felt he could seize the next "opportunity." Thus, he decided to take advantage of the fact that the Zhen army had not yet completed setting up camp and capture them.

About two hours later, Wang Yushan arrived at the battlefield.

Although the 4,000-strong Chen army had not completed its trench defenses, its muskets and artillery had already been deployed in the battle formation.

The vanguard of this army was clearly operating according to standardized drill manuals, with each unit deployed in a line formation to meet the enemy.
Haojun arrived just in time; Zhenjun only had control of the battlefield for a day and couldn't make any further arrangements. However, although Zhenjun didn't build fences, fortifications, or other defensive works, they did dig some bowl-sized pits in front of their positions and installed tripping devices.

Hoping for a lucky break, Wang Yushan ordered his 6,000 elite troops to launch an immediate attack.

He brought twelve stone lions, arranged in groups of four, forming three diamond-shaped assault formations. As for the six hundred cavalry, they were divided into four groups, moving back and forth across the battlefield in an attempt to disrupt the Chen army.

On the battlefield, the heaviest sounds in both formations were footsteps, as well as the distinctive local accents and drawn-out commands of the messengers.

As Wang Yushan's army launched its charge, one after another, flapping-wing units took off from within the Zhen army's ranks. They were manned wooden phoenixes.

Such a flapping-wing unit has a certain ability to fight in the air because a batch of crossbows is hidden in the head position of its wooden phoenix. As long as the controller steps on it, these crossbows can be fired. Of course, the main task of this air force is reconnaissance.

As the flags of the wing-flying troops changed, the "information" conveyed by the flag signals prompted the Zhen army's artillery to launch a precise bombardment.

Wang Yushan's army was still in the midst of a full-scale assault; the stone lion cluster was originally positioned behind Hao's army, with the plan to suddenly accelerate and attack from the rear when Hao's army was within two hundred paces of Zhen's formation, using a wave of impact to disrupt Zhen's formation, after which Hao's elite infantry would take over.

But now, the artillery shells from the Zhen army immediately cracked the heads of these stone lions, causing them to become disoriented and begin to stagger in an S-shaped path.

As a result, during Hao Jun's all-out assault, three routes did not receive the support of the stone lions and could only face the onslaught of the Chen army's muskets.

"Crack, crack," smoke filled the air in front of the formation.

As rows of guns fired in a continuous stream, Hao Jun fell one after another as he went uphill. The distance of one hundred paces was like a rake cutting through grass. At the foot of the mountain, the men were densely packed, but as the Hao Jun charged, they found themselves surrounded by increasingly empty space.

During the close-quarters combat, one hundred men fell, two hundred men collapsed, and the armor of three hundred men was ripped apart like sacks.

Finally, Haojun closed to within thirty paces. As they charged, they suddenly discovered a triangular arrangement of bamboo poles on the ground ahead. These poles were three people tall and deeply embedded in the ground, with sections of barbed wire strung between them.

Hao Jun was immediately forced to stop and destroy the barbed wire. Some shield bearers provided cover, their shields sparking from the bullets. Although the shields could withstand the bullets, cracks spread across them. About twenty bullets were enough to render the shields unusable and cause them to shatter completely.

It took twenty breaths to break through less than five gaps in the barbed wire.

At each of these breaches, there were piles of thirty to forty corpses. Just as the breaches were about to be opened, before Hao's army could swarm in, the war chariots from the rear of the Chen army's position arrived.

These vehicles began spraying huge blobs of slime. Once ejected, the rubbery substance immediately unfolded into a sticky, bubblegum-like net that descended.

These rubber materials quickly become tough when exposed to air. This forced many of Hao Jun's soldiers to stop and tear off the rubber strips that had gotten on themselves and other soldiers.

However, in the midst of this struggle, they were horrified to discover that torches had appeared on the crossbowmen's positions. Crossbow bolts, laden with scorching carbon, hurtled towards them. A torchbearer regiment had appeared on the battlefield.

In the flames, the rubber strips softened, and everyone was freed from their restraints, but they ran around like little figures on fire from oil drums in Red Alert.

The small hillside position achieved an effect comparable to a siege, where the crowd gathered at the foot of the wall and was then burned by the hot liquid.

On another front, the one that the Chen army missed and failed to intercept the stone lions, the chariots and the stone lions collided directly, causing cracks in both structures.

Meanwhile, the spearmen of the Zhen Army joined the battlefield with specially made large spears; these five-meter-long spears were reinforced with highly resilient whale sinew; and the wood was a special material imported from Thorn Ridge, and the shaft could be extended from five meters to ten meters if necessary.

Among the Zhen army, those who are still allowed to carry long spears in this age of firearms are the elite of the elite; they wear red tassels on their spearheads and call themselves the Vermilion Bird Guards.

One spearhead after another pierced the stone lions' eyes and leg joints, sparks and stone fragments raining down on them. Before long, the four stone lions, aided by the combined forces of chariots and spearmen, were forced into a retreat.

Seeing the fierce battle, Wang Yushan became anxious. He then deployed his reserves, but just as he was about to make his move, a scout informed him that another troop of the Zhen army had appeared five miles from his main camp.

Wang Yushan had to abandon his plan to deploy reserve forces. If the current Zhen army held firm and was not defeated by his own forces, while the Zhen army outside the field rapidly advanced, then Wang Yushan's entire army would be trapped there.

The problem is that the enemy's positions ahead cannot be taken without deploying reserves.

Half an hour later, Wang Yushan sounded the retreat. Meanwhile, the musketeers of the Chen army had fixed bayonets and formed square formations, blocking the advancing shield and spear troops; at this point, the exchange ratio between the two sides had reached one to one.

It is worth mentioning that the period with the lowest exchange rate between the two sides is in the first three-quarters of an hour before close combat; during this period, both sides have the strength to defend, their formations are stable, and the casualty rate is the lowest.

The Chen army, as the defending side, stood on the hillside with full energy, and in the three quarters of an hour of close combat, only forty-two soldiers were killed.

The truly high casualty rate would only occur when one side was exhausted. In other words, if Wang Yushan committed reserve forces, the Zhen army would face the pressure of a bloody battle.

The quality of Haojun's troops is higher than that of Zhenjun's troops, because Zhenjun's troops are composed of militia; while Wang Yushan's troops are all elite soldiers, many of whom have the added strength of martial arts at the fourth level or above.

However, just as Wang Yushan's troops had overcome the heavy casualties of the enemy's firepower and entered close combat, having just exhausted the enemy's strength, and seeing that they would be able to gain the upper hand by virtue of their numerical advantage in a few quarters of an hour,

At that moment, a clear, crisp gong sounded.

The Hao army retreated amidst a pile of corpses. In this battle, the Hao army suffered a total of 1,600 casualties, while the Zhen army suffered 387 casualties.

On the enemy's position, exhausted soldiers took out sugar cubes from their pockets, trembling as they stuffed them into their mouths, and then took out their water bottles and gulped down water.

They watched the retreating Hao army, but instead of the euphoria of victory, they were filled with lingering fear; for if the Hao army had put in a little more effort, their own casualties would have been enormous.

At this moment, above the Chen army, a column of dragon-horse riders approached from the rear and circled in the air. These military police from the communications battalion recorded the number of corpses on the ground, ascertained their own casualty ratio, and inquired about the condition of the Hao army. Then, they took out an order from the "six bamboo tubes" hanging on their bodies, handed it to the local commander, and immediately returned. (The order was issued by the General Staff, which had prepared contingency plans for multiple scenarios; this was one of the plans that suited the current situation.)
The order was very simple: order this unit to select a combat battalion of four hundred men to join up with the brother units that were coming from behind, and then they could go back to rest.

Three-quarters of an hour later, the four thousand-strong force formed a battle formation and carried the wounded back on stretchers.

Wang Yushan watched helplessly as the exhausted troops, who had just fought a battle with him, left. But he couldn't pursue them, because another Qin army, which had been watching from the sidelines, was closing in.

This army did not directly attack Wang Yushan's troops, but instead made a detour, blocking the road five kilometers behind them, forcing Wang Yushan's troops to continue fighting.

And what about the front? We'll leave that to the third contingent of the Zhen army to come and watch the show.

Wang Yushan seemed to understand something; they were going to use troops to fight him one by one.

The Kingdom of Zhen was too wealthy, with ample chariots and strong horses. It could afford such a costly large-scale military campaign, essentially using money to offset the losses suffered by the Hao army.

On June 28, the second Zhen army launched an offensive. After being bombarded by artillery fire, Wang Yushan's army had no choice but to engage in battle with this Zhen army that had stuck to them.

In order to force Wang Yushan into a decisive battle, the Chen army's musketeer cavalry held off Wang Yushan's troops for a full four hours, until their musket ammunition was almost exhausted.

After realizing that they could not shake off the persistent wagon-mounted artillery and musketeer cavalry, Hao Jun finally launched a counterattack.

As a result, Wang Yushan's troops were hit by another round of musket fire during the charge, and another wave of soldiers were killed under the barbed wire. Finally, when it came to the melee phase, the third group of soldiers from the Zhen army appeared after the Zhen army had been fighting for half an hour.

Devastated, Wang Yushan had to mobilize his forces to defend against the flanking attack. Meanwhile, the second Chen army, which could have pressed their advantage, took advantage of Wang Yushan's formation adjustment and disengaged from the battle line. After separating themselves by 500 paces, they immediately lined up to rest.

Haojun was completely dumbfounded. Was this some kind of joke?
As for Wang Yushan, his army absolutely could not afford to fight a third round, and such a tactic would put him (Haojun) at a great disadvantage.

Each battle lasts four to five hours. After a round of ranged attacks, there is a round of melee combat, and the player withdraws from the battlefield before exhausting their stamina.

On the Hao Army's side, the number of martial arts cultivators is higher than that of any of the Zhen Army units. In other words, if this were a war game, the "elite level" of the Hao Army's troops would be two tiers higher than that of the Zhen Army.

Martial energy is not something ordinary people can cultivate; in the West, it would be something for prospective knights. According to Xuan Chong's theory, these people would be high-ranking members of Zhao Cheng's system.

It is said that "blood reward" is a reward for "rank promotion" to encourage soldiers to perform "bloody deeds".

The higher the rank, the fewer positions there are; for the warlords, the reward for motivating the higher ranks to fight is also higher.

Therefore, using "farmers" to fight "knight reserves," even if the knights suffer fewer casualties, is still more cost-effective than using the peasant army. Unless the knights can defeat the peasant army and achieve the main battle objective more quickly and effectively, engaging in a war of attrition is the most foolish move.

Xuan Chong is currently using "junior soldiers" to continuously exchange casualties with the elite troops brought by Wang Yushan. Through reasonable tactics and continuous battles, he even gains an advantage in the casualty exchange. If a soldier on Xuan Chong's side kills someone, Xuan Chong can easily reward and incentivize him with official positions; but what about Wang Yushan's side? How can he appease his troops and provide the blood rewards that would make his retainers willingly serve after a bloody battle? — And once the blood reward exchange system collapses, the consequences will be far more severe than the complete annihilation of an army.

After three days of fierce fighting, Wang Yushan's troops had indentations on their cheeks.

Wang Yushan led his troops in a cautious retreat. He marched westward and stopped at a place called Baocheng to rest and reorganize his army.

…On Xuan Chong's map, the area around Baocheng had long been circled…

This place called Baocheng is now jointly controlled by several powerful local families.

During the battle between the Chen and Hao armies, these wealthy families sent people to monitor the situation on the battlefield and planned to have their servants inform the Hao army. However, the Chen army cavalry blocked the battle zone and removed the pants and shoes of anyone they encountered (so they could not run in the open or hide in the grass), so the servants could not return home in time to report the news.

As the wooden phoenixes of the Zhen army flew over to "kindly remind" them: "Don't let the chaotic army into the city!"—The Xuan Chong Staff Department had considered the rejection of their side by the inner earth of the Great Yao, so the "barbarian" crow people did not appear in the Central Plains War.

However, the wealthy families in Baocheng were still ungrateful. The able-bodied guards they gathered used muskets and bows and arrows to drive away the Zhen army's flanking troops from the city walls.

Furthermore, these wealthy households always made a great show of driving away the Zhen army; they even sent their farmhands, who were usually responsible for delivering supplies to the prefecture, to report the situation. — This was presented as a pledge of allegiance to Zhao Cheng's forces.

Every night, the scholars here would embellish the daytime battles and share them with others in Baocheng as topics of conversation after drinking.

Because these scholars always described the Hao army with the narrative view that "the Hao army is tyrannical and has lost its way, so it is not so terrible to everyone."

So, on the 29th, after Hao Jun arrived, the cowherd at the city gate led Hao Jun into the city, banging gongs and drums along the way to tell everyone, "The soldiers are here, listen carefully!"

However, the scholars who could always rationally analyze that "benevolence and righteousness will ultimately triumph over tyranny" could never have imagined that these Hao soldiers would be so impolite after entering the city, demanding that they hand over two thousand shi of grain and enough firewood.

The village elder said, "Sir, our entire city has less than a thousand bushels of grain!"

Meanwhile, a woman in the street cried out, "You can't take my donkey away!"

However, voices came from other parts of the city: "My beams, my pillars, you cannot tear down my house!"

At this moment, according to the official history of the Hao Kingdom, due to the invasion of the Zhen Kingdom, our Great Hao had no choice but to begin the "scorched earth" policy. However, the villagers were ignorant and did not understand, and they clashed with our army.

…a flock of crows flew…

No secrets stay hidden forever. The news of Hao Jun's massive search for Bao City spread like wildfire through tabloids and leaflets throughout the Heluo region.

The powerful clans of the Heluo region were greatly alarmed.

At this time, various regions in the Heluo region were ideologically opposed to the Zheng Kingdom.

Xuan Chong's reforms were tyrannical, and the Hao Kingdom was truly ruling the world in harmony with the scholar-officials! However, the morality of the scholar-officials could not solve a real problem: using their "moral discipline of the violent machine" could only control the operators (generals) who used the violent machine.

In reality, as the authority of those who operate the violent machinery is restricted by morality, when the machinery goes out of control, the previous "moral shackles" force the operators to blind themselves, let their subordinates act as they please, and absolve themselves of responsibility.

Upon learning that the Chen army had marched north, conquered the entire territory of Yongzhou, and was "penetrating various places in Xiazhou, abusing the people and robbing them," the people of Heluo were all thrown into disarray, shouting, "The traitorous king should be punished!"

These fabricated and defamatory articles about the military were all compiled by the State Security Bureau. The authors' names, family backgrounds, and places of origin were all kept in the sights of Que'er.

…war is a terrible thing…

Zhao Cheng, who was consolidating the army on the southern front, gritted his teeth after receiving the battle report from the front. If it weren't for the fact that Wang Yushan was leading his own troops, who were extremely loyal, he would have even wanted to send someone to capture Wang Yushan directly.

Now, wave after wave of Chen's troops are taking turns charging up to clash with Hao's army, forcing Wang Yushan to maneuver and scavenge for supplies. This is extremely detrimental to the overall interests of Zhao Cheng's southward-bound army.

It wasn't that Zhao Cheng was kind-hearted, but rather that since Wang Yushan had already robbed everything, how could he possibly rob anything else?
"No more than three years of military service, no more than three years of grain supply." This is an ironclad rule of military strategy. After a defeated army continuously plundered the area, it had already exhausted the local surplus of Zhao Cheng's southward army.

On the 30th, Zhao Cheng's army marched to Jianlong Ridge. As the army traveled along the road, Zhao Cheng saw that the entire sky over Xiangzhou to the west was filled with a grim atmosphere, with dust forming an iron curtain that fell between the mountains and rivers of the two regions.

Zhao Cheng was deeply shaken. Having conquered over ten provinces, this was the first time he had witnessed such a welcoming landscape for his army. He had a premonition that Wu Yuanchang was already waiting for him ahead.

As the large terracotta warrior behind him spread its wings and soared into the sky a hundred feet high, he activated the "Guardian" skill.

A beam of light emanated from the face of this special terracotta figurine. Just like the special effect of the Calabash Brothers' far-seeing eyes patrolling the earth in the cartoon, after this terracotta figurine, suspended a hundred feet in the air, swept across the land; on the ground, on the strategic map displayed on the silk scroll in front of Zhao Cheng, a series of armies deployed by Xuan Chong awaited him like an iron wall.

Of course, the astronomers led by Zhao Cheng could see the celestial phenomenon of the Fire Star hanging high in the west.

Zhao Cheng: "It's him, no doubt. I should have known long ago that he was the one who was making great moves in other areas, but remained lukewarm here (in Xiangzhou)."

Zhao Cheng pondered the possibility of this large-scale battle, so he sent people to collect supplies from various places.

In recent years, he also followed the system of "registering all people into households". Hao Guo also promoted some "baojia" (local security officers) within the village.

Hao Jun followed the example of the Zhen Army, issuing military scrip to powerful local families gathered through the baojia system during wartime; then, based on these scrips, he granted local authority afterward. However, Zhao Cheng ultimately lacked understanding of reform. His attempts at learning the systems were like a beginner's attempt at programming—adding and deleting parts with a superficial understanding, causing the program to crash.

For example, the military scrip system caused families to be ruined and destroyed when military scrips were confiscated. In the end, the military scrips ended up in the hands of wealthy households who would then exchange them for power.

With the war raging on so large, Zhao Cheng's 70,000 troops have suffered heavy losses, and the local areas are unable to collect taxes no matter how many households they destroy.

And because Wang Yushan had already spread fear, families began to gather in the city. The fortresses left near the city were all abandoned, their possessions buried in the ground; and any food they could not take was hidden in cellars.

Of course, the wealthy families in these places underestimated the extent to which Zhao Cheng's forces desperately needed supplies; unable to find any grain, they dismantled all the roof beams and even hollowed out the door panels in order to meet their quotas.

In the southern part of Chenzhou, which borders Xiangzhou, 350,000 households were left homeless after this battle.

After Wang Yushan's defeat and escape, Zhao Cheng felt a pang of rage as he faced the area ravaged by Wang Yushan. —What was originally a 20% chance of victory had been reduced to less than 10% by Wang Yushan's chaotic actions.

At this moment, Zhao Cheng had already begun to consider withdrawing.

Although he knew it was unlikely, Zhao Cheng still sent envoys to the State of Zhen to persuade the two sides to cease hostilities and make peace.

The envoy sent by Zhao Cheng was a man from the Shui region. He had gone to serve Zhao Cheng during Xuan Chong's southern expedition. As a renowned scholar in the area, he boasted of having some connections within the Zhen state.

Xuan Chong had no interest in dealing with this "Jiang Gan" type of person. He left it to Wu Lu to handle.

After Wu Lu questioned Wu Rui and confirmed that his army could afford to wait, he chuckled and left the scholar hanging for three days, providing him with good food and drink and having him send messages to Zhao Cheng every day, keeping Zhao Cheng in suspense and making the various factions in his power hopeful.

On the third day, Zhao Cheng, realizing what had happened, was so enraged that he coughed up blood. He then ordered his legions to advance and begin the decisive battle.

The furnace was no longer used, and the scholar was pushed out by the furnace to offer sacrifices to heaven.

Meanwhile, Wu Rui entered the command post and gathered the twelve battalions together, with the eighth and third battalions as the centers. He then calibrated the mechanical clocks of all officers and precisely agreed on the time.

Following the key points of the "pincer attack" from the textbook, Wu Rui launched a rapid assault, and after completing the timing of each unit (ensuring coordinated troop movements), he split his forces into two routes, left and right, to encircle Zhao Cheng's army.

…Xuan Chong: Let's fight Zhao Cheng in command…

Hundreds of kilometers away in Jizhou, the cultivation world was also watching this great battle.

As early as when the Zhen army marched north to "bring chaos to the common people," these immortal sects were already active; and when Zhao Cheng led his troops south, in this clash of forces, the entire central area of ​​Da Yao was instantly struck by evil energy and its spiritual power was extinguished.

Many immortals, observing this malevolent aura soaring straight into the heavens, couldn't help but retreat hundreds of miles.

The battlefield where military strategists vie for power is filled with such fierce intent that no immortal techniques can be formed, and related celestial calculations are impossible to perform.

The leader of the Five Elements Immortal Sect looked at the battlefield filled with the sounds of gunfire and cannons: "The world has fallen into the Calamity of Li Huo!"

(End of this chapter)