Chapter 148
The spring breeze blows and the war drums beat.
As the charge horn sounded, looking towards the direction of Yichun in the distance, Wei Xizhe ordered the assembled troops to advance at full speed.
Unlike previous years when the cavalry led the charge, this year Wei Xizhe made some changes to the vanguard. Scouts reported that the city gates had been brightly lit at night for the past two days, as if they were practicing archery, so they didn't dare get too close.
Hearing the news, he became cautious. He felt that this was necessary because there was now a new army in Yichun, and this army was very treacherous. He was not sure whether Marshal Zhu of the Yichun camp would be influenced by them and become bad.
Now the strongest warriors of their Diluo tribe are charging in the front, and the cavalry are following behind. He thinks this is safe.
His subordinates were puzzled. "Your Majesty, do we really need to do this? In the past, we always charged directly. These Central Plains soldiers are so cowardly that they've never dared to ambush us on the road. Just defend the city!"
"As they say in the Central Plains, it's better to be safe than sorry. There are more troops stationed in Yichun City than just Marshal Zhu's original army. Take your hunting for food, for example. Having so many captured at once is unprecedented, isn't it?"
The subordinate was persuaded by him and said, "Okay."
Wei Xizhe looked into the distance and saw his vanguards rushing forward unhindered. Soon, they arrived at the place where their Diluo tribe and Yichun were challenging each other, and dispersed to both sides, leaving the middle position vacant for the cavalry.
The vanguards were fine. Wei Xizhe thought he was overthinking it. He immediately waved his whip and shouted at everyone to charge, "All Di Luo's warriors, charge!"
Gui Fangying was the infantry warrior leading the charge. Their king, suspecting the Daliang people of a tactic, had sent them forward, and he did, willing to die for the Diluo people. He was terrified during the charge, and when it was over, he found nothing. He then walked off to the side with his friends, mocking the Daliang people for being weak.
"What is that?" Suddenly, he found that there was something abnormal about the road surface.
"No, why is this piece of land rolled up?"
Just as they were studying the road in confusion, the Dilo cavalry rushed up, their king still leading the charge.
Then they discovered to their horror that something unexpected had happened!
First, he felt that the horse had missed a step, and the king rushed down with it.
As the cavalry stepped onto the open space, the entire road suddenly cracked in front of them, revealing sharp porcelain fragments and barbs stuck in the ground underneath.
Wei Xizhe was also confused. This road was actually hollow? A trap?
He was stunned and the horse's leg was injured. The thing underneath made the horse panic and neigh. It subconsciously struggled to run, but every time it struggled, the injury became worse, until it knelt on all fours, and blood gradually flowed from its body.
"Stop! Stop! There is a trap in the foreword! Stop!" Wei Xizhe shouted.
Unfortunately, the inertia of the charge meant they couldn't stop it just because they wanted to. Every horse in the front was experiencing the same tragedy as the one under him.
Later, due to inertia, a terrible stampede occurred.
"It's a trap, it's a trap!"
On the walls of Jiayin City, countless soldiers were cheering.
"Haha, congratulations, Marshal, for winning the first battle!" Shi Mei and other generals congratulated Marshal Zhu.
"Hahaha, this is really satisfying!" Marshal Zhu laughed heartily.
At first, when they discovered that the Diluo tribe had sent their vanguards to run in front, Marshal Zhu and his men, standing on the city wall, were so nervous that their hearts were in their throats. Fortunately, their cavalry finally charged.
Yao Erge, standing by, was also very satisfied with the effect of the trap. He was responsible for delivering the letter and the craftsmen to deliver the sharp porcelain materials and semi-finished cement. He came with a mission.
Observing the arrangement of the trap is also one of his tasks.
"Sir Yao, your craftsmen are really amazing!" The general of the Yichun camp complimented the second brother Yao. It was not really a compliment, but a fact. After all, relying on the guidance of these dozen craftsmen, they actually made the Di Luo clan fall flat on their face right after they started!
Yao Erge chuckled. Their craftsmen were truly impressive. For example, one of the most crucial materials for setting these traps—the semi-finished cement—was created by their craftsmen based on a tip his sister had gotten from somewhere. This material had a certain hardening effect on roads and buildings, making it perfect for setting these hollow traps.
On the wall of Yichun city, because the first battle was won so easily, everyone from generals to soldiers were extremely excited. They easily defeated the enemy's cavalry. How many years has it been since they felt this way?
Normally, it was the Northern Di who came with such force, but they had to struggle to repel the enemy's first wave of attacks.
But for the Northern Di, this defeat was completely unexpected. How many years had it been since they'd suffered such a disastrous defeat? Crucially, the casualties came against the most elite members of their Di Luo army! This was still the beginning of the war, before even close combat. Such an opening was a significant blow to morale.
Seeing that the Di Luo tribe had fallen into a trap and a stampede had occurred, General Mu Ye of the cavalry battalion of the Yichun camp could not help but request, "Marshal, I beg for your permission to go out of the city and pursue them!" Give them a kick when they are down!
"Okay!" Marshal Zhu waved his hand.
Soon, the city gate was half opened, and General Kino led his soldiers out, taking the opportunity to reap the lives of the Diluo soldiers.
After all, Wei Xizhe was a veteran general. After the initial panic, he was on guard against Yichun Dalao taking advantage of the opportunity to add insult to injury. He let the last one-third of the cavalry who survived go around and block them, while the soldiers behind him started to save their fellow tribesmen who were trapped in the trap.
The Diluo tribe was furious and fierce. General Mu Ye gained some advantage at the beginning, but he didn't gain much advantage later. When General Mu Ye realized that the Diluo tribe's reinforcements had been completed, he had no choice but to call off his troops, no matter how unwilling he was.
After the Yichun cavalry retreated, Wei Xizhe's heart bled when he saw that due to a trap, the number of casualties among their cavalry accounted for two-thirds of the total cavalry.
********
"The Northern Di are attacking again, let's quickly gather our food!"
The news that Beidi and Yichun were at war again caused the people of Yichun to start collecting grain in a hurry.
After Yao Chunnuan reported the situation, she went to the fields to check and consulted the farm managers. They all said that some crops were not yet mature and could still grow for a few more days. If they were harvested now, the yield would only be 80% to 90%. If they grew for a few more days, they could harvest more.
Yao Chunnuan quickly led people to appease the people, asking them to harvest the mature crops first and wait two days for those that were not fully mature. There was no need to worry that the Northern Di people would rush into the heart of Yichun to burn, kill and loot.
Out of trust in the officials at the City Lord's Mansion, they stopped harvesting. But they were still extremely worried, wishing they could just sleep in the fields. They couldn't sleep in the next few days until they harvested enough food.
Despite appeasing the people, Yao Chunnuan's expression remained solemn.
The main reason was that the fear of the Northern Di was too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. They marched south every year, sometimes rushing into the hinterland, burning, killing, looting, and committing all kinds of atrocities. The people of Yichun were so terrified at the mere mention of the Di that it caused psychological trauma to the people.
She felt that Yichun needed a big victory in the battle against Diluo. In other words, they had to give Beidi a hard time this time.
The other side was too arrogant, almost treating Yichun as their granary and back garden, coming whenever they wanted! Just look at the small groups of Beidi who had been sneaking into the villages on the border between Yichun and Beidi without organization and discipline to hunt for food, and you know they are habitual offenders.
These habitual criminals used these captives to repeatedly lure their own tribesmen to the Yichun garrison, eventually attracting over 10,000 people. Eventually, the northern Di people probably realized something was amiss, and no one came despite their efforts. The soldiers of the Yichun garrison were filled with regret.
These more than 10,000 Northern Di people were all troublemakers. After being captured, each of them was extremely ferocious and had dirty mouths, clamoring to kill these Daliang people.
The first thing the Xing family soldiers did to deal with these troublemakers was to tie them up and drag them around on horseback. They wouldn't even treat their injuries. When they were in the prison camp or during the land reclamation process, they were often whipped. If they refused to obey, they would be whipped until they gave in. They were spoiled!
After a month or two of training and training, they're all very obedient now, becoming skilled at making trouble. They don't know how to do anything, so every year they have to come south to steal food from the people of Daliang. To put it bluntly, they're just lazy. The Yichun military settlement is a cure for their laziness!
But we can deal with Di Luo after their city lord and his soldiers finish their small tasks. Marshal Zhu and his men should be able to hold on until then, right? They shouldn't be that useless.
******
Outside Jiayin County, the Diluo tribe retreated several miles and set up camp. They were like a pack of hyenas; they wouldn't retreat until they had grabbed some food.
Wei Xizhe was covered in bandages. Fortunately, he was good at fighting and his injuries were not too serious. But at this moment, his face was solemn. In the battle with Daliang, their Di Luo tribe had not suffered such a big loss for a long time.
Seeing his tribesmen hanging their heads in dejection, Wei Xizhe kicked them and roared in the camp, "Everyone, raise your heads! Is it just a small defeat, and you are going to be dejected?"
"Your Majesty..."
"Are you afraid to move forward because of this one setback? Or do you plan to just go back to Dilo? Go back empty-handed? Face the expectant eyes of your parents, wife, and children, and then tell them that you were incompetent and couldn't bring them food for the winter?!"
The army of the underdog will surely win. All the Diluo people were inspired by their king's words, "No, we won't go back!"
"Well, tonight, we have to attack the city all night long! Won't they set traps? We have to catch them off guard this time!" Wei Xizhe snorted coldly.
At night, the horn of war sounded again.
"General, the Northern Di people are crazy."
"That's crazy! They actually attacked the city at night!"
It is difficult to attack a city at night, and this difficulty applies to both sides: it is difficult to attack the city, and it is also difficult to defend the city.
"Hold on, we must hold on!"
After a night of fierce fighting, the Northern Di people were finally prevented from gaining an advantage. Marshal Zhu and the other generals walked down the city wall with exhausted faces.
At this moment, Shi Mei rushed over, "General, it's bad, we received news that Huining was captured by Xing Changfeng and his men."
As soon as I got off the city wall, I heard that Xing Changfeng had conquered Huining. Marshal Zhu: ...
Marshal Zhu held his breath. What was wrong with Xing Changfeng and his gang? They were still thinking about expanding their territory at this time?
Marshal Zhu felt like he was being used. Damn it, I was fighting for my life in front of me, and you were hiding behind me. Not only did you not help me, but you also took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack on Huining, and you even succeeded in the attack?
Marshal Zhu asked, "How long did the siege take?"
Shi Mei: "It is said that in less than three hours, the other party has completely taken over Huining."
Upon hearing this, Marshal Zhu couldn't help but burst into curses, "Are the county magistrate and county magistrate of Huining pigs? Can you be any more useless? Even pigs are more promising than you! You can only delay for two more days. You are worse than pigs and dogs!"
Marshal Zhu was so angry that after scolding the Huining County Magistrates, he scolded the generals who led the troops to Yichun to quell the rebellion. "And Gan Huacheng! Are you a tortoise? You mobilized troops from Liangzhou to Yichun to quell the rebellion. You crawled all the way there. Do you know how to force a march?"
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