Chapter 32: The Grieving General
It rained all night long, and since the nights here are very long, by the time dawn broke, the heavy rain had turned into light rain, and even the light rain gradually stopped. The wasteland under the tree had already become a vast ocean.
The corpse of the person shot dead last night was gone, probably washed away by the water.
Yun Ce didn’t understand. Since he had discovered firelight here yesterday, why didn’t he bring a group of people over, but instead chose to venture alone.
This doubt had just arisen when he cast it out of his mind. He couldn’t even worry about the affairs of the living, who had time to care about the affairs of the dead.
In one night, the big trees on the wasteland all turned white. It should be insects like spiders that were flushed out by the water with nowhere to go, so they climbed up the big trees, causing the big trees in Yun Ce’s view to be draped in white overnight.
Only the big tree where Yun Ce was staying remained as green as ever, standing out very conspicuously on the wasteland with rippling water waves.
Creatures that like to climb trees during floods are not just insects, but also things like snakes. Other big trees were covered with things like snakes, entwining branch by branch on the tree branches, a sight that chilled the heart.
The reason there were no poisonous insects around Yun Ce was entirely because he had the even more terrifying venom of the many-legged snake here. Coating a bit of this stuff on the tree trunk would make snakes and insects flee far away.
Yun Ce looked around with the telescope and felt that his purpose of watching human wars might be dashed. No one would be so foolish as to fight in the water. The Three Kingdoms’ Pang De was forced by circumstances.
However, he couldn’t leave now either, so he had to continue living on the tree with E Ji.
1 This big tree was very tall. After Yun Ce went to the treetop and looked at the surrounding environment with the telescope, he couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
1 Last night during the heavy rain, he was still doubting the intelligence of the enemy’s general. Now, after seeing the battlefield environment, he had to admire that before combat, they not only accurately selected a battlefield advantageous to themselves, but also turned the negative factors brought by the heavy rain into factors advantageous to themselves.
1 In wasteland combat, all directions are places that must be defended. Now, with this anticipated limited flood disaster, not only would the wasteland area shrink greatly, but the areas occupied by the flood would become a natural dividing line between the two sides, and at the same time, the defensive front would be greatly reduced, increasing the troops available for frontal combat.
1 In Yun Ce’s view, this attacking general’s level was very high.
1 Yun Ce had boiled a large pot of bean porridge early in the morning, planning to eat this thing to fill his stomach for the whole day, so as not to miss some classic scenes.
1 When a group of people appeared on the east side horizon braving the rain, Yun Ce’s heart sank, because this group hadn’t yet developed the awareness of combat. Rather than saying they were an army, they were more like a bunch of refugees gathered together. Not only did they include men, women, elderly, and children, but the weapons in their hands were also of all kinds. From the looks of it, they resembled daily tools more than weapons.
1 Yun Ce watched with his own eyes as they plunged headlong into that perilous area between the two stretches of water. He couldn’t help shouting loudly a few times, but unfortunately, the distance was too far, and they couldn’t hear.
1 These were a very lively group of people. Some women dressed in ruqun even danced on the water shoals, untying their armbands, spreading their arms, letting the wide sleeves billow in the wind, singing and dancing in the breeze.
1 After shouting a few times, Yun Ce came down from the treetop, returned to the wooden raft, filled a wooden bowl with bean porridge, and slurped it down.
1 “Aren’t you going to watch the excitement? Why aren’t you watching?” E Ji asked. She was squatting on the wooden raft and couldn’t see the tragedy about to unfold.
2 “Not good to watch.”
2 “Why not good to watch?”
2 “Because they’re not serious.”
2 “Not serious means not good to watch?”
2 “Exactly. Serious people look better even when they die than others.”
2 E Ji didn’t understand what Yun Ce said. Seeing him finish a bowl of porridge, she filled another bowl for him. Yun Ce hesitated for a moment, took the rice bowl, and prepared to continue drinking.
2 Faint drum sounds came from the distance. The drum sounds were intense and somewhat uplifting. Though this thing lacked much playing technique, it was enough to command the army.
2 Small ripples also appeared in the water, which should mean the cavalry had moved out.
2 Yun Ce drank the bean porridge slowly and methodically. He felt that by the time he finished two bowls of porridge, the battle there might be over.
2 E Ji took the empty bowl, fetched some rainwater from the tent’s depression, washed the wooden bowl clean, and saw Yun Ce squatting on the wooden raft watching the many-legged snakes swimming around in the water. Feeling he seemed a bit sad, she smiled and said, “I’ll accompany you to the tree to watch the excitement.”
3 “No need, I’ll watch by myself.”
3 Yun Ce climbed back to the treetop, leaned against a very elastic tree branch, raised the telescope, and focused on the battlefield.
3 After seeing the full picture of the battlefield, the situation was somewhat beyond Yun Ce’s expectations. Those joyful refugees didn’t collapse under the cavalry charge. Instead, they formed a square formation, holding long sharp weapons and fighting the cavalrymen inseparably.
3 The cavalry couldn’t break the refugees’ square formation, which showed the cavalry lacked the determination for a desperate charge. The refugees weren’t broken by the cavalry because they had no fear.
3 The cavalry’s speed slowed down, and they stopped on the narrow water shoals, their combat power dropping by nine-tenths at once.
3 Watching the cavalrymen being forced to retreat slowly by the refugees with long weapons, Yun Ce spat a mouthful of saliva into the water, apologizing for his earlier casual speculation.
3 Now, if some people holding heavy weapons like axes in the refugee ranks could charge at the cavalry, and if that could cause the cavalry to collapse, this battle might be won.
3 In general, the victorious side always steps accurately on the drumbeat of victory, while the defeated side always has countless reasons for failure.
3 Sure enough, a group of people holding thick wooden clubs sprang out from behind the long weapon square formation and gave a beating with clubs to those cavalrymen who were flustered dealing with the long weapons.
3 This was really worth watching. The cavalrymen fell from their horses one after another, too busy to fight, rolling and crawling to escape into the shallow water on both sides. They didn’t dare go too deep into the shallow water area, so they stood motionless in the place where the water was about to submerge their necks, waiting for rescue. Since they weren’t moving, naturally things that could move and didn’t want to stay in the water found them. After the fleeing soldiers saw they were snakes and insects of various colors, they started moving again. Soon, they were dragged into the water by the heavy armor on their bodies.
4 “What kind of cavalry is this—” With the battle turning out like this, Yun Ce began to worry for that smart general.
4 Fortunately, a dense shower of arrows flew over, shooting down quite a few wooden club wielders. Those holding long pole weapons advanced with one hand holding a wooden raft and the other raising the long pole.
4 Such long poles had little lethality. If the infantry over there could bravely advance, as long as they got close to these long pole holders, they could win.
4 For some reason, the smart general over there just wouldn’t send out knife and shield soldiers to fight, allowing those wooden club wielders who luckily survived to retreat behind the long pole soldiers. Thus, a strange scene appeared on the battlefield: the long pole soldiers bravely pressed forward, continuing to squeeze the few remaining cavalry, while the cavalry kept retreating and piling up against the infantry behind. The water shoal battlefield painstakingly designed by the smart general completely became his own abyss.
4 When the refugees’ rear of men, women, elderly, and children charged over like a tidal wave holding various daily utensils, the cavalrymen rode their horses into the flooded areas on both sides. The infantry behind, for some reason, discarded their shields and weapons, turned around, and ran back.
4 The refugees were very fierce, using various weapons to kill the wounded and surrendering soldiers. Then, they began to loot the weapons, clothes, and various things they needed from their bodies.
4 This was a battle of very low level. Yun Ce was somewhat disappointed.
4 The battlefield chosen by the general was very good, the timing of deployment chosen by the general was also very good, and the general even arranged precious archers from the rear behind the cavalry. These were all highlights on the battlefield.
4 Despite having cavalry, armor, sharp weapons, archers, and a wise commander, they lost in the end.
4 This ridiculous war ultimately only proved one thing: on the battlefield, the human factor is the most important.
5 The soldiers ran very fast, but the general under a large banner stood like a mountain. Despite his loud scolding and even hacking two fleeing soldiers to death with a long saber, the fleeing soldiers continued to flee, just avoiding the general to not be hacked to death by him.
5 The general began to charge, just him alone launching a desperate charge against the retreating fleeing soldiers. From his pig-rushing style charge that left no room for retreat, one could tell how angry he was at this moment.
5 The refugees had already bolstered their courage from this battle. Even facing the formidable general, a skinny refugee dared to confront him with a rake. But in just one clash, he was cleaved in two by the general’s saber, followed by the second, third, fourth…
5 Until the long pole soldiers surrounded him. The general, already killing with red eyes, didn’t choose to flee and continued fighting. He used his armored body as a battering ram, smashing through the long pole soldiers’ defense and stirring up a bloody storm in the crowd.
5 Yun Ce watched for a long time and finally sighed. If this general hadn’t exhausted his strength, he alone could have ended this war and won.
5 Watching with his own eyes as the general’s weapon was seized, his armor stripped off by the refugees, his clothes removed, his arms chopped off, his knees gouged out, his ears cut off as trophies, and the remaining body thrown into the water, Yun Ce then came down from the treetop and dug another bowl of bean porridge from the earthenware pot, chewing it slowly.
5 This war put Yun Ce in a very bad mood. Although he believed that soldiers killing refugees must be the soldiers’ fault, seeing such weak soldiers made Yun Ce worry for the Han people of this world.
5 With such an army, could the Great Han’s people really sleep soundly?
5 Although many of the looting refugees had died, they sang and danced as they chased the fleeing soldiers. Only the body of that general, who was beyond saving, floated face-up with the current toward Yun Ce’s side. Even from far away, Yun Ce could hear the general’s miserable cries.
5 Thank you, brothers and sisters. Things are gradually improving. This is a very good book, so please don’t be stingy with monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, follow reads, and such. Jue2 will not disappoint everyone. Love from your Jue2.
