Chapter 127: “enter, Unfurl, Seize”
After annihilating Su Zhe’s troop, Wu Fei dispatched a non-commissioned officer from the Capital City whose temperament was somewhat similar to Su Dong’s, sending him to deceive and launch a surprise attack on Sheng Yan City.
This non-commissioned officer was very shy and felt he couldn’t do it well, so Wu Fei called over the servant who had come with him. This servant was very nimble, and his current military rank was only half a level below his original young master.
Wu Fei: “Teach your young master to put on the posture of eating a free king’s meal and go deceive them.”
Compared to the young master, this family slave was much more experienced in the Martial World and immediately said, “General, rest assured, we master and servant will not fail the mission.” Then he patted his own young master: “Young master, it’s fine, I’ll go with you.”
This man was formerly a slave-born son, but now he was already his young master’s “Blood Labor brother.” The two were closely tied together.
The slave-born son non-commissioned officer could tell that doing this matter well would absolutely be a great merit, so he couldn’t let his own foolish young master push away this task.
Wu Fei looked at the two and instructed, “If you do it well, I’ll award merit to both of you; if you mess it up—” Wu Fei knocked on the helmet of the non-commissioned officer who had been a young master before enlisting and said: “You just properly summarize the failure report and recite it to the entire army for me. Don’t even think of letting him (the original servant) do it for you.”
Although the servant appeared more capable than the master, and the military camp emphasized placing the able in position, for this master-servant pair, Wu Fei still tried to keep the young master’s military rank slightly higher than the servant’s! The reason was simple: compared to the non-commissioned officer from a slick servant background, this young master who had been instilled with noble family honor and shame from childhood knew shame! This point was extremely important in summarizing experience after military failures. For a new army, the attitude when facing “failure” was more critical than the attitude when facing “victory.”
…Xuan Chong: In the future against peers, it can’t possibly be invincible, right?…
After dispatching this eight-hundred-man troop, Wu Fei arranged for other patrol teams to begin sealing off information along the river.
At this time, the benefits of the “crossing the river to start battle” decision became apparent: the routed Hao Army soldiers could only flee toward Su Dong’s side and not toward Sheng Yan City, so Sheng Yan City received the news later. The stricter the information seal-off, the higher the probability of deceiving the city.
After personally studying the communication system, Wu Fei discovered that the various camps of traditional military strategists were quite inadequate in information interaction. For example, on his side, communication between camps had to be done by specialized communication soldiers and required matching a cipher book.
Of course, in a feudal interpersonal environment, slickness was needed, making it hard to maintain professionalism. After all, subordinates dared not speak principles to superiors.
Instilling principles required rewards and punishments to be strict to a certain degree, with clear evaluations for every regulation.
…Deceiving the city is a characteristic tactic of Eastern classics; don’t play if you can’t handle it…
Three shichen later, Wu Fei at Wang Jia Du received the communication soldier’s report that Sheng Yan City had been taken. He then dispatched three laborer troops to quickly enter the city, and—called on the local great clan personnel he had bribed to enter the city and tally the goods.
Of course, Wu Fei still emphasized two points: ensure the treasury is sealed, and do not harass the great households in the city.—After all, this was deceived into opening, and they hadn’t resisted yet.
For these cities that were tricked into opening, Wu Fei would not demote the entire city’s populace to slaves, but after the future situation stabilized, these corvee labors, these great households would all have to bear. After all, by then they would have no united front value.
After June 18, with Wu Fei annihilating Su Zhe’s troop and taking Sheng Yan City, it already presented a shutting the dog in and beating it momentum against Su Dong’s route of troops.
Within this most diagonal seventy-two-kilometer war zone, the Heaven and Earth Yao Calculation aura shifted from intense confrontation to one side tightly enveloping the other; from the sky, the surroundings were a ring of blazing sunny weather, while atop the Hao Army was an ominous black cloud.
…Lu Jiao City defense battle begins…
In the gloomy weather, under Lu Jiao City, Su Dong, who was in a besieged state, clutched his heart upon receiving this news.
Originally, he was mentally prepared for Su Zhe’s expedition not going smoothly.
But the scenario he had prepared for was: Su Zhe’s troops entering Sheng Yan City and supply gathering slowing down; or being intercepted by the Yao Army, slowing the transport efficiency.
But he absolutely never expected his son to be completely annihilated, and Sheng Yan City to be taken by Wu Fei in a counter-move! This was like a gambler staking heavy bets waiting to recoup, but when the diamond came out, it was directly confiscated by the constable.
In the main camp, he clutched his chest and forcibly calmed down, then promptly ordered the news sealed off, dispatching personal soldiers to concentrate and detain all possible messengers on all rear roads.
After Su Zhe caught his breath, he supported himself on the table to stand, looking at Lu Jiao City already under siege by his troops, and decided to gamble once more. Under his command, the entire army began trotting forward, with personal soldiers using horse whips to drive the ranks along the way, while the Hao Army below grumbled: “Why run so urgently? No one is opening the city for us.”
The Lu Jiao City siege battle began; under his command, the Jade Lion launched the first assault, crashing through those seemingly not very sturdy low wall sections under various projectile rains; the subsequent Haotian Jade Brave queues watched the Jade Lion’s headbutt, like a wild boar digging through a wooden fence and arching in, and collectively cheered.
But the cheers abruptly stopped. From the city breach came a “rumble” like steel rollers rolling on the ground.
A “crack” giant sound, like stone exploding, flashed at the breach; only to see a giant iron lion charging up, the scene like a hammer smashing an ice block, the ice block instantly shattering into numerous ice shards.
The Jade Lion was like the ice block meeting the strike; half its head directly pulverized, with streams of light dissipating from the damaged lion head interior, the effect of Yao Calculation energy dissipating.
Then the iron lion’s terrifying bite force clamped the Jade Lion’s leg, crunch crunch, biting it off in one go.
The Haotian Jade Lion compared to the Da Yao iron lion, in mass and killing intent capacity scale, was the difference between a bean tank and a Tiger King. The iron lion used its hardest headbutt to impact the Jade Lion, each charge creating spiderweb-like glass cracks.
Over the past few years, in several field battles between Haotian and Da Yao, Jade Lions could only rely on speed to dodge and strike while moving;
The two Hao Army cases of encountering and defeating iron lions: twice using pottery figurines to halt the impact then Dragon Guards poking them bad with halberds, and once being flipped by a same-level tamed beast Baxia.
And now Su Dong never expected the Yao Army to ambush an iron lion behind the city wall. His eyes bulged wide, inwardly applying the “cunning in command” phrase he used for Zhao Cheng now to this Yao Army general.
Of course, he wouldn’t say it was he who sent the Jade Lion to impact those seemingly flawed low city wall areas—Wu Fei: Such an obvious flaw, I don’t repair it precisely to wait for you to step in.
After the Jade Lion charged in and just poked its head, it was sent flying; from outside the city, this impact looked like it was sucked in. Immediately after, the second, third, fourth; all Jade Lions sent in by the Hao Army encountered dizzying impacts inside.
From the city interior perspective, two iron lions ambushed on each side of the breach; upon confirming enemy large units entering here, they charged toward each other along fixed tracks and just barely passed by.
The charging Jade Lions, in the first round, had their heads hit by the left one and rumps by the right one, starting to spin clockwise; before stopping the spin, the iron lions on both sides had already turned around, charging crosswise again—this time head hit by the right and rump by the left, perfectly switching to counterclockwise.
This clockwise and counterclockwise conflicting, Jade Lion waist cracks rapidly extended.
This performed a spectacular shaved ice machine operation scene for the Haotian siege troops around the city wall breach, its back-and-forth impacts forcing the Haotian army corps to split apart, and the high walls suddenly unleashed volley fire on these detouring Hao Army troops.
Firearm bullet rain fell from the walls, projectile trajectories like harp strings.
The Hao State troops, after approaching within one hundred paces of the city wall, increasingly felt tired, because this path looked harder and harder; every four to five steps, there was a bamboo stump about half a palm high on the ground, as tall as grass, and a slight inattention would trip one up with a stumble, so they simply couldn’t run fast. And the formation grew looser the further they went.
This wicked thing was naturally Wu Fei’s invention; as someone from his previous life, he knew that a sudden raised section on the road was the easiest to trip people. So he had the able-bodied men in the city use Luoyang shovels to dig pits, then bury half-meter bamboos exposing small tips, creating multiple “trip zones,” while the areas without “trips” were now crossfire coverage zones from the city battlements.
Sure enough, the Hao Army walking on the “correct path” suddenly realized while advancing that they had rushed too far ahead; rows of bullets came over, followed by the person beside them spurting blood from the chest with a puff and falling down.
While the friendly troops nearby were very “cowardly,” crawling down to dodge, infuriating these over-advanced Hao Army troops; and as they rushed forward, they tripped with a splat, only then understanding why the friendly troops in these areas moved so slowly.
Half a shichen of siege yielded no results; the Hao Army could only retreat, but just as the Hao Army was about to escape the firearm shooting zone, a sudden gale rose, whipping up a one-meter dust wave. Accompanied by scorching hot aura sweeping all directions.
A nine-headed giant bird swooped down, vibrating its wings to fly up before even landing; though not striking, it thoroughly scattered this group of Haotian troops.
Nine Phoenix’s feint strike this round did no substantial damage, but the overwhelming giant beast hovering in the sky’s oppressive pressure instantly zeroed the Hao Army siege morale. Thus, four to five hundred remnant soldiers all fled back.
After these Hao Army troops withdrew, Su Dong still wanted to organize and arrange the next round of siege, but the news of his son’s entire army being wiped out and Sheng Yan City being captured somehow spread, and the military camp was filled with various factions forcing the issue.
Why did it spread? Wherever there are people, it will spread.
The pressure on those in the know about the failed siege was enormous, and they couldn’t help but confide in people they considered close allies.
Insider: “I’m telling you, but you absolutely must not tell anyone else!” The other person: “I know, I definitely won’t spread it to others.”
Su Dong’s personal soldiers subjectively had no intention of betraying their general, but objectively, the continuous major defeats made them feel their future was uncertain, so they looked gloomy, and thus while drinking in the military tent with other “friends,” they unwittingly chatted about these secrets that had been weighing on their hearts for a long time.
Thus, the news of the retreat path being cut off weighed on the hearts of everyone in the military camp. Just like the pressure from the Nine Phoenix hanging in the sky on the besiegers.
As instability permeated the camp everywhere, Su Dong could only go along with everyone’s words and lead the troops back to reinforce. However, when he issued this “order,” it wasn’t because he wanted to issue the order, but because of the “voting decision” (coerced confession) in the army. Leaving aside whether this reinforcement was wise, from now on, the army’s authority had already begun to be lost.
…The following time was a nightmare for Haotian’s troops…
Three days later, when the main army was crossing the river on the return, it was ambushed by Wu Fei again. This straggling, continuous ten-li march—if not ambushed—would really be a disservice to the Eastern Market Army’s current powerful execution.
Due to the troops dragging along like a standard defeated army, after Su Dong led his elite to cross the river first, Wu Fei’s army appeared on the east side.
Su Dong saw the rising dust, prepared to form up and prepare for battle, waiting in the standoff for the main army behind to catch up. However! After half a shichen, he didn’t wait for the main army to arrive, but instead waited for the river water to rise with the tide.
Su Dong gazed at the sudden white line in the upstream river and couldn’t help but be stunned: “Why does the River Earl treat me so poorly?”
Meanwhile, Wu Fei, in the standoff state, let out a long sigh and shook his head: “Your dragging appearance made the operation way too simple?”
Note: Just like in a second-rate unit calling people down for a group photograph, without small gifts as incentive and not an authoritative leader calling, it takes calling four or five times to gather everyone, and one photo takes half an hour of fussing.
Su Dong’s troops lost cohesion, and the march turned into a travel group parade. His leading team walked at the very front, while several camps behind walked and stopped intermittently. Thus, when the frontline engaged, they needed to call people to get others back in line.
And the battlefield happened to be a river. Wu Fei never imagined he could one day imitate Han Xin’s water-release tactic, because after repeated simulations, he believed the river’s water release timing couldn’t be controlled—if the enemy troops finished crossing and then the water came, it would be laughable.
However, with Su Dong’s army performing so poorly, the uncontrollable became controllable.
Many non-commissioned officers under Wu Fei proposed this suggestion, and one who was said to have ancestors as river control officials in the court swore confidently that he knew how to build a dam.
Wu Fei looked at these guys from “dandy” backgrounds—surprisingly, the ones he led had profound family learning.
These non-commissioned officers already had a confidence in “stirring things up,” and after gauging the opponent’s level and understanding Wu Fei’s team-building execution, they were all eager to act.
Thus, two days before Su Dong arrived, the Eastern Market Army mobilized five thousand able-bodied men for labor, using requisitioned small boats to transport materials.
First, fill bamboo baskets with a basket of soil mixed with “shrinking soil powder”—oh, like cement plaster coagulant powder—forming a half-meter-high hidden dam at the upstream riverbed, so the upstream water stalled here and accumulated into a half-meter-high water ridge.
Note: This doesn’t block the river water, but pockets a large area of water, with a trickle still flowing downstream.
And while building this dam, Wu Fei also conducted information lockdown, sending scouts on both front and rear flanks of Su Dong’s troops to ambush and kill sentries.
Of course, the scouts Su Dong sent out these days were also sensible—after confirming Eastern Market Army scouts appearing on left and right, they very consciously withdrew, with no intention of actively observing, embodying a “I don’t see you, you don’t see me, you haven’t appeared, I haven’t come” spirit of peaceful coexistence.
Wu Fei felt his “professional standards were insulted” and couldn’t help but comment: This is extremely abnormal in a normal army; it only happens in routed armies where the command system has collapsed. Scouts not detecting information obviously means the scouts didn’t do their job!
Just like in observations, if instrument data doesn’t change for days, it’s not that the “observed” phenomenon is super stable, but the instrument is broken. At this point, as the leader (observer), you must immediately re-observe. Scouts are the army’s observation instruments.
…Wu Xiao Que doesn’t want to put this victory case in his own textbook, because the opponent was too unprofessional…
After Wu Fei’s standoff began, upstream infantry received the fireworks signal, and the infantry at the water barrier immediately activated the spell, activating the gui water rune; highly acidic liquid appeared in the bamboo baskets, some reed leaves were decomposed, and the shrinking soil powder wrapped in reed leaves immediately began to hydrolyze.
Regarding the instant disintegration of “shrinking soil powder,” Wu Fei speculated it was a special chemical mechanism destabilizing molecular stability. Of course, the system doesn’t teach chemistry here now.
In the upstream fixed bamboo baskets, the “shrinking soil powder” that solidified the soil suddenly dissolved. Immediately after, the originally hard soil lumps in the entire bamboo basket turned into soft mud, the soil dam at the river bottom that blocked the water flow instantly “melted,” and then came this surge of waves.
Rolling waves flooded the four-to-five-meter areas on both shores below the ferry crossing within minutes, the water overflowed the shore soil, producing large amounts of yellowish foam.
As for Su Dong, after stupidly standing in standoff for two hours, he finally realized he was on low ground, while the troops actively responding to the “call people” order were still half on the shore. Those in the middle of the river, with the first wave of flood, panicked toward both shores, but some horses couldn’t dodge, and after the flood passed four breaths, under the water impact, the people were already nowhere to be seen.
Meanwhile, Wu Fei issued the attack order, launching an assault on Su Dong’s troops trapped in the water.
After the first rank of firearms shot, Su Dong’s shore troops collectively collapsed; the bullets swept in ranks, people disappeared bit by bit. A few brave ones charged toward the formation, but their calves hindered by river water required constant leg-lifting, unable to charge up, and the farther front they rushed, the more they were concentrated-fired by Eastern Market Army firearm soldiers. Bullet-riddled corpses fell into the water, sinking due to heavy armor, becoming obstacles tripping friendly forces.
Volley fire executed for twenty minutes, gunpowder smoke filling the battlefield; ultimately, Su Dong led a few troops to escape along the flood impact direction—after all, Wu Fei wouldn’t let the main army enter the water to pursue.
And more importantly, with Su Dong fled, the large troop across the river still had over ten thousand, leaderless, suitable for covering cavalry to cross and pursue.
…Three days later…
Su Dong led over a hundred cavalry in panicked flight. After running a day, they encountered five goats grazing, with a goatherd.
Su Dong sent people to chase; the goatherd ran off like smoke, disappearing into a nearby roadside village. Su Dong’s troops captured the five sheep, but were exhausted and starving. They hadn’t brought an iron pot when fleeing and couldn’t find firewood for the moment, so they followed into the village.
When Su Dong entered the village, he found no one there—not even the goatherd—presumably they’d all fled upon hearing of soldiers.
Though some felt something was off, the village had firewood, the well had clear water; once rested, their energy eased, making it hard to move.
Just as Su Dong lit cooking fires in the village, surrounding village forts received the signal; assembled villagers, taking spears along with dispatched laborers, surrounded them.
…The Yao Army still has mass base…
Regarding the interception work, Wu Fei had arranged it long ago.
Routed soldiers scared witless don’t need dispatching Guan Yu to block on the Huarong Path—that’s romance. Without superhuman power, when a great general flees hungry and exhausted, he can be knocked dead by a farmer with a hoe.
After Su Dong finished eating, he suddenly heard clamor outside the village and was greatly alarmed, thinking pursuers had come. However, entering the village is easy, but having dismounted, suddenly reforming to exit was difficult.
Originally elite corps could crash through ten times old farmers in field battle, but at the village entrance they were pinned down and rubbed. A huge stone mill was pushed to the village mouth, smashing head-on into the copper lion cavalry preparing to exit; those majestic strange beasts were instantly flipped four feet up.
Then came ranks of crossbow bolts blasting, forcing them back into the village.
…After sunset, dog packs blocked outside the village barking wildly…
Ten hours later, Mu Xingyu led the reserve troop to arrive. Looking at those stubbornly resisting in the earthen walls, after persuasion to surrender failed, he prepared to launch a strong assault.
The entire troop changed into triple iron armor outside the village, armed up to the neck, holding heavy axes. After eating half full, with divine power talismans pasted on their backs and various combat buffs applied, they performed the ritual. The four sides of the entire village formed arrays, lit damp firewood, thick smoke carried by the wind borrowed from the ritual poured into the village, and armored soldiers charged in through the gate, emerging from the Rest Gate and Life Gate.
In the thick smoke and shouts of killing, the heavy axe infantry inside acted like a meat grinder.
Bloody remnants of soldiers kept fleeing out, as well as some injured armored soldiers retreating.
Finally, with a dragon roar, the village shook violently. A three-zhang-tall giant stood up from the village—this was Su Dong. In a desperate situation, he activated his immature dragon descendant bloodline, kicked away the earthen wall in the village, and tried to break formation and escape.
Seeing this, Mu Xingyu issued orders: have the spear troop block the main road entrance to prevent other Hao Army remnants from escaping; meanwhile, the firearm troop waiting on the side stood up, formed ranks and advanced forward to within thirty paces, then fired a salvo.
At the six-meter-wide village west entrance, Su Dong’s dragon-man transformed body was shot by the firearms until scales fell off his entire body and blood covered his face, finally hooked down to the ground by a halberd.
