Chapter 131: Frontline Strategies, Rear Schemes
Bo Prefecture, two days after the Lizhuang Campaign, on July 24 of the 36th year of the Shu Tian Calendar, the troops dispatched by the Haotian side were chaotic like a swarm of mosquitoes clustering and flying wildly in the summer evening sky. Meanwhile, the Wu Family Army was like dragonflies, either swiftly passing by or hovering.
80 kilometers outside Dong Lei City, Wu Fei’s mobile corps encountered furious interception from the Hao Army. This interception force had three Tai Yue Luan and four Haotian Lions (similar to Winged Tigers). The massive giant beasts circled like a flock of crows fighting dogs, facing the ground formation.
Two days ago, Wu Fei’s field troops suddenly exerted force, annihilating the pottery figurines and heavy cavalry corps before the Hao Army’s other units could react, enraging the Governor of Huangyu City, who immediately ordered the entire army to catch the Eastern Market Army’s mobile forces.
These Hao Army camp teams that sortied from the city had varying speeds, not to mention struggling to keep up with the Eastern Market Army’s rapid march—it was like a group of kindergarteners chasing college students.
College students can run while looking back to see if those kids have caught up. Wu Fei could also run while sending scouts to check on them.
…And Wu Fei was rotating personnel…
Wu Fei’s 5,000-strong army, after finishing the first wave two days ago, dragged the entire army near Dong Lei City within seven shichen.
After the military officers tallied the arrived troops, they rotated horses and personnel with the relief troops dispatched from Dong Lei City. Ordinary soldiers were replaced by fully seventy percent, while non-commissioned officers rotated a quarter, so the Yao Army remained a 5,000-man troop, but with full energy bars, maxed morale, and accumulated combat experience.
Besides Dong Lei, Wu Fei set up three fixed camps elsewhere, all rotating personnel and horses at any time to ensure his 5,000 mobile troops were always full of energy.
Wu Fei leading these 5,000 on the frontline was like an upright king cobra head swaying from east to west, from west to east, pulling the 20,000 Hao Army that sortied from the city along with him.
The specific effect was that right away, he pulled over the most mobile air giant beast troops from the Haotian Army.
…Wu Fei: The essence of mushroom tactics is if they don’t come one by one to deliver themselves, use movement to isolate and make the enemy fall alone…
Wang Mingxing was the Haotian commander of the air giant beasts. He didn’t realize he was being “fished” at this moment; instead, he felt that during these two days and nights of his entire army pursuing this Yao Army unit, his troops had leveraged their air advantage, successfully searching and sticking to this sly Yao Army, and dragging it out for four or five days would allow follow-up troops to arrive and annihilate them.
Today, Wang Mingxing was striking a camp on the flank of the Eastern Market Army with 300 men, two or three li away from Wu Fei’s main army, like a straggler.
It was like sleeping on a summer night, with one arm abruptly sticking out from under the quilt, especially tempting for circling mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes buzzed as they flew, while Tai Yue Luan and Haotian Lions “whooshed” their wings in the sky, circling.
In the Eastern Market Army, in that camp exposed outside the main camp, firearm soldiers and halberdiers huddled in clusters, staring intently at the sky.
In the sky, Wang Mingxing saw an opportunity. As the interception unit approached the main body, it began striking toward the formation.
Thus, he called on the circling giant beasts, trying through circling followed by sudden left-right dives, then pulling up, changing angles for another dive and pull-up maneuver, to disrupt the Da Yao Army’s defensive formation.
“Bang bang bang,” the ground Da Yao troops fired volley after volley. Haotian Lions dodged most, and the few bullets hit were tanked by feather armor bred with killing intent. Shattered feather armor turned into scattering feathers falling from the sky.
…Mantis stalks cicada, unaware of oriole behind…
While Wang Mingxing kept calculating the Yao Army’s stamina and fear levels below, 500 paces away, three groups of cavalry shed their conical hat straw disguises and began flanking from the rear.
When the cavalry hooves sounded on the ground, the dragon horse troops in the formation began flapping wings and taking to the air. This unit of over 100 dragon horse troops directly pounced on Wang Mingxing’s rear.
Meanwhile in the main camp, Wu Fei lifted a silver metal projectile from his hand and tossed it into the sky. This metal projectile burst with blinding flash like pure oxygen, along with invisible electromagnetic waves.
The originally hidden peacocks in the sky flew out, pouncing toward the army, diving. At the lowest point of the dive, they lifted a claw. As Wu Fei raised the rope to hook the claw, with the peacock’s slight lift, he soared into the air using that flung force.
Wu Fei coordinated perfectly with the peacock. With the peacock’s falling leaf drift maneuver, Wu Fei adjusted his body, lying prone on the fluffy feathers on the peacock’s back, adsorbed by the force field.
Thus, in the sky with dragon horses, on the ground with firearm arrays and guerrilla cavalry, plus Wu Fei airborne with the main unit, four sides formed a palm pinching this Haotian troop.
With the rear cut off by Wu Fei’s cavalry, killing intent forming a net, Wang Mingxing felt heavier in the air, and the wing-flapping rhythm of his air monsters slowed, no longer nimble. He knew killing intent clouds were pressing down from above; he had to land the giant beasts to dispel it.
If they didn’t land and fight now, even fleeing by flight was impossible; flying burdened by killing intent would exhaust stamina in under two kilometers and force a landing.
However, Wu Fei took the lead, urging his mount straight at Wang Mingxing, giving him no chance to issue orders.
The peacock’s size was three times that of a Tai Yue Luan, its impact like a horse colliding with a donkey. Wang Mingxing was immediately flipped, dead-gripping the Tai Yue Luan’s reins to endure the violent spin.
When he tried commanding Haotian Lions for a group beatdown on Wu Fei, he suddenly found three surrounding Haotian Lions charging over controlled by “Immortal Binding Arts.” Spider silk-like things condensed in the air, directly pulling the Haotian Lions to the ground.
Ground cavalry charged just in time, fiercely stabbing with lances. Haotian Lions, impaled, flapped wings and struck, blood and feathers flying amid splintered lances and severed lion tails scattering. With tails gone, Eastern Market Army lads started poking the Haotian Lions’ rear with guns.
Meanwhile, the Tai Yue Luan side was all tangled by dragon horse knights.
Wu Fei clung like an accessory in the fluff of Ming Zun (Great Peacock), watching the Great Peacock unleash a series of “flying-type” skills, occasionally providing technique aids to Ming Zun: “After impact, tear abdomen with claws,” “Don’t tangle low-altitude,” “Blind with dazzle art then disengage, pull high and charge again.”
Wu Fei commanded his divine beast for effective attacks like a Pokémon trainer.
The Great Peacock grew fiercer, soon downing Wang Mingxing’s mount with Wu Fei’s shouted “Yan Return” move, crashing unbalanced to the ground. Facing concentrated firearm fire, Wang Mingxing shouted surrender.
Thus, the battle ended. The nearest remaining Haotian troops were only 50 li away; their commanders watched Wang Mingxing deliver the strategic force.
As victors, the Eastern Market Army used oil-soaked thick ropes to bind and pack the entire Haotian air giant beast formation to take away. They detached 800 men to escort these giant beast captives, while Wu Fei led the main force continuing maneuvers.
Since Wu Fei’s troops were mobile, the Haotian side didn’t dare deeply pursue the beast formation.
After two consecutive major defeats, the Haotian Governor cursed frontline wastes but grew vigilant, ordering (micromanaging) all troops to converge and dispatching his confidant Sun Yong to lead the army.
…Generals battle on sandfields, while Da Yao indulges in singing and dancing in peace…
After June in Yao Capital, changes quietly occurred. Prince Zhou was diligent in his first few days as regent but soon grew debauched.
After all, Prince Zhou had been suppressed for over a decade; suddenly released, with endless rights and flattery, his moral rationality was at its weakest.
Thus, some wise monarchs have this worry: disliking elder princes for seeming aged and breeding evil spirits. Unbeknownst, normal people forming teenage worldviews need vigilance from not just their father, but teachers, peers, and society.
If a crown prince’s sole vigilance from youth is his wise and divine father—once that sole suppressor of his mind-monkey is gone, he’ll spiral uncontrollably into debauchery.
After learning of Prince Zhou’s idiotic operations in the rear, Xuan Chong couldn’t help commenting as follows.
Xuan Chong: The two dim monarch groups of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Liu Song and Northern Qi, shared traits: super smart founding emperors Liu Yu and Gao Huan; but heirs, after the divine emperors passed, began unprecedented depravity. Liu Song’s Liu Yifu was timely replaced by Liu Yilong, but Liu Yilong couldn’t stop his descendants’ beastly acts.
Chaos corrosion from beyond the heavens fizzled on Wu Fei, but on Da Yao’s heirs, a certain three-eyed one progressed smoothly.
In the tavern, Xian Daoren ordered a pot of wine, watching his chess piece slip from one prince’s mansion to another.
Prince Zhou’s fall wasn’t sudden; he handled affairs adeptly, but things he usually dared not play or hear, once pandering subordinates delivered, stirred hidden desires.
Late June, with frontline reports of “all smooth,” he began wandering the capital, taking interest in common girls.
After first tasting a petite beauty, Prince Zhou felt some fear, but with his eunuchs quickly cleaning up, his fear faded into special satisfaction. Thus, he sought more.
A month later, he contentedly gazed at the woman on the bed, a national beauty with unique flavor. Planning to bring her into the palace, he lifted her face: “What’s your name?”
The woman tearfully said: “This little woman is Li Shi, daughter of the Li Family of Xing River.”
Prince Zhou paused, finding it familiar, then realized: this Li Family was a great clan relocated to the capital after the Northern Border chaos. Since a good family daughter, bringing her into the palace as concubine should be fine? Seeing bedsheet stains and her snow-white skin, impulse won; he sent men to Li Mansion announcing it.
Days later, Prince Zhou learned the second daughter he favored had complex status: his cousin’s desperate-to-marry concubine, murky with some Southern Border general, once betrothed.
Prince Zhou’s heart sank, darkly thinking: damn, not the Eastern Market Army’s guy now? But fear summoned it; the eunuch named the military family, and Prince Zhou’s vision blackened.
This was family shame. Prince Zhou fumed at entanglement, but investigation clarified: his cheap uncle Prince of Northern Tranquility’s family opposed Li Shi entering, unable to withstand son’s death threat.
Thus the ploy: spread fake news luring Li Shi to the mansion, then bar the gates upon arrival, letting palace beauty-hunting eunuchs grab her—originally ending there.
Prince of Northern Tranquility’s wife, Wu Hanluan’s mother, could then expel her for overnight absence, but unexpectedly the eunuchs checked nothing, delivering straight to Prince Zhou’s bed.
The prince consort unexpectedly it escalated; she thought “Li Shi was promised to Wu Family by Prince Zhou, grabbed by his eunuchs, surely returned.” Relying on Prince Zhou’s household knowing, but virtuous-reputed Prince Zhou, deluged by princes and ministers, forgot Wu Hanluan’s plea.
Prince Zhou sweated profusely over the inner residence report, headache splitting; he just indulged desire, pitted by Prince of Northern Tranquility family’s damned infighting.
Yet his eunuch said: Master, I have a way.
This eunuch’s eyes flickered blue light.
For Prince Zhou, his virtuous reputation was vital; he absolutely couldn’t steal his brother’s woman. Thus, she couldn’t be Prince of Northern Tranquility’s; let Wu Family claim her, then pressure Wu Family to quietly cover it up without making a big fuss.
…Xian Daoren: What an exquisite plan. But extra factors…
Time to July 5: Zhao Xian Zhong, arriving in capital, originally heading north to Bo Prefecture to report Southern Border to Wu Fei, stopping in East Market for purchases. Li Family sent invitation, requesting Zhao Xian Zhong receive their mistress.
Zhao Xian Zhong, wary, inquired about this “mistress”—good grief, Li Shi was promiscuous. Still wanting into his household. He immediately annulled the betrothal for Wu Fei.
Li Family, hearing, sent a mediator who arrogantly dismissed Zhao Xian Zhong as southern barbarian; thus Zhao Xian Zhong beheaded him on the street.
Murder under the Son of Heaven’s feet caused uproar; troublemaking Zhao Xian Zhong fled north to find his lord.
Yet this meant-to-cover matter blew city-wide. To control noise, Prince Zhou detained Li Shi.
Xian Daoren watched Prince Zhou’s Mansion “Ziwei Star” entangled by purple moon glow, smiling. Then eyeing northern starry sky sparks: Loyalty is most useless.
…System: No need to mind this…
July 25, mid-third maneuver plotting encircle point to strike reinforcements, Wu Fei in main camp met self-bound Zhao Xian Zhong, surprised, but after hearing, his killing intent erupted.
Wu Fei sealed the tent, pacing. Kneeling ahead was Zhao Xian Zhong.
Initially happy at his arrival—short-handed here—but hearing the mess, scalp numbed.
Wu Fei pointed at his nose: “Murder on street under Son of Heaven’s feet, such gall!”
Zhao Xian Zhong gruffly: “Young Master, lord insulted, vassal dies. I came because my head is yours; they can’t take it. Only you can give my head to Li Family.”
Wu Fei smashed bamboo tube on his forehead: Give your mom’s head.
Then kicked fiercely, cursing: I spent costs training you, and you trade your life for those lowly family slaves. Taught you countless times: face matters calmly, weigh gains-losses; yet on trivial matter, act brainlessly.
Pointing south: Li Family pricing their whore like a brothel. I have multiple revenge ways; you picked the costliest.
Kicks done, curses tired, Wu Fei gulped from water canteen, moistening throat: Now go to new recruit camp as instructor; no order, don’t emerge.
…Sword environment and singing-dancing peace mutually incomprehensible…
In main tent, Wu Fei pondered capital: Li Family forcing promiscuous woman on him was fishy; even if betrothed unclean, could swap with other noble lady renaming as flat wife. Great clan ladies? Just status, unrelated to talent; legitimate or shameful, even purest can be disowned.
Wu Fei: Did my East Market deeds offend too many? Now with merits, court bastards want to humiliate me—Wu Fei unaware of Prince Zhou’s involvement.
Even knowing, Wu Fei wouldn’t hand Zhao Xian Zhong for peace. In his view, “lives value differently.” Zhao Xian Zhong’s life outranked servants’; not just his life, even prospects he’d protect.
Forget equality; even past life’s “human rights equality” was pie in sky—some nation’s troops kicked reliant lackeys off planes withdrawing.
Sticking to “blood labor for blood reward” formula ensures his “military group” backbone unbreakable; compromising to ancients, step-by-step losing “military group” grip, one day truly pinched by them.
Wu Fei wasted little mental power here, focusing energy on warfare.
