sjar Chapter 475 The Northern Li army gathers, and the Prince of Langya divides his forces into three rou
Chapter 475 The Northern Li army gathers, and the Prince of Langya divides his forces into three rou
Ye Xiaoying took a deep breath, knelt on one knee, and clasped his hands in a fist salute, saying:
"Your humble servant obeys! Even if it means facing mountains of knives and seas of fire, I will surely investigate the true nature of the drug-using people for Your Highness and create chaos in Qiandong!"
Xiao Ruofeng stepped forward, helped Ye Xiaoying up with both hands, and then looked at Lei Mengsha and Xun Yichuan, who had just been summoned into the tent, his gaze sweeping over the three of them one by one:
"The three armies formed a pincer movement, supporting each other from afar."
Remember, send out scouts to communicate with each other every day. Never fight on your own, or give Baili Luochen the opportunity to divide and conquer!
The key to this battle lies in speed and adaptability—disrupting his rhythm and keeping him constantly on his toes!
"Understood!" the three replied in unison, and a murderous aura suddenly rose in the tent.
Xiao Ruofeng walked to the tent entrance and lifted the curtain.
Outside the tent, the night was as dark as ink, the stars were dim, and only the continuous campfires, like giant dragons coiled on the earth, illuminated the figures of countless armored soldiers.
A great battle is about to begin, and a bloody atmosphere is about to descend.
He said slowly, "At dawn tomorrow, the three routes will set off simultaneously. Second Senior Brother and Yichuan, you two will take the lead and make sure to make a strong impression."
General Ye, your journey is the longest and the terrain the most complex; you must be extra careful. My main force will depart half a day later, heading straight for Juzhou!
He turned around, the candlelight flickering in his eyes: "This journey is fraught with danger. I hope you all... take care."
There were no grand pronouncements, only the simplest words of advice.
Lei Mengsha grinned and patted Xiao Ruofeng's shoulder hard: "Seventh Brother, take care! After the war is over and we return to Tianqi, I'll treat you to the best Qiulu Bai!"
Ye Xiaoying nodded emphatically, everything was understood without words.
Xun Yichuan clasped his hands in a fist salute, his eyes resolute.
The plan has been decided, and military orders are absolute.
At dawn the following day, bugles sounded and war drums thundered in the Northern Army camp.
Two hundred thousand troops surged like a tide, splitting into three torrents in the morning mist, rushing off in three different directions.
Lei Mengsha and Xun Yichuan's 40,000 troops, with banners waving, marched westward along the official road, the sound of hooves and footsteps shaking the earth, heading straight for Hanzhong.
Ye Xiaoying's 60,000-strong army was quickly divided into land and water forces. The elite Double-Blade Battalion, numbering over 10,000, boarded the prepared warships and cargo ships and sailed downstream like arrows released from a bow, heading southeast. The remaining 40,000 infantrymen, personally led by Ye Xiaoying, marched along the land route, their ranks like a long snake, silently and swiftly disappearing into the hills and forests of the south.
Xiao Ruofeng stood on the command platform, watching the two teams depart into the distance. Only when the last flag disappeared from sight did he slowly turn his gaze to the southwest towards Juzhou.
That will be the stage for the final battle.
"Send the order: the entire army march!" He mounted his horse, his Haoque sword drawn half an inch from its sheath, its cold light reflecting in the sun.
Eighty thousand of the most elite Northern Li troops followed closely behind, like a long-awaited sharp blade, slanting towards the border of Qianzhou Road.
Smoke and dust billowed, obscuring the sky and the sun.
The three armies were already like arrows released from a bow.
Meanwhile, dark clouds were quietly gathering in the southwestern sky.
……
Two days later, at the gates of Hanzhong.
Forty thousand Northern Li troops, like dark clouds pressing down on the city, set up a series of camps in a strategic location seven or eight miles outside the city.
Banners fluttered in the wind, swords and spears gleamed in the sun, and the chilling atmosphere was so intense that even birds within a ten-mile radius dared not land.
Lei Meng took the lead, his silver armor gleaming blindingly in the afternoon sun.
He reined in his horse and stopped a short distance from the moat, looking up at the glaring "Breaking Wind" banner on the city wall, a wanton smile spreading across his face.
"Yichuan, watch closely!"
He turned around and raised an eyebrow at Xun Yichuan beside him, "Today, let these cowards see what a real verbal battle is!"
Having said that, he took a deep breath, focused his energy in his dantian, and roared out with a voice like thunder:
"Listen up, Windbreakers on the city walls—!"
This roar, delivered with internal force, was as loud as thunder, causing dust to fall from the city wall.
The soldiers guarding the city wall all looked over, and many new recruits were so frightened by the sight that their hands trembled and they almost dropped their weapons.
Lei Mengsha was very satisfied with the effect and continued to roar:
"Your lord, Baili Luochen, was once known as the 'God of Slaughter,' a figure who was invincible throughout the world!"
How come the soldiers we train these days are all spineless cowards?!
"Well, the Windbreaker Army these days is no better than before. All they do is cower in the city like tortoises. What's the use of their shiny armor? They might as well take it off and go home to take care of their kids!"
On the city wall, the defenders' expressions changed drastically. A young lieutenant, his face flushed with anger, gripped his spear tightly and shouted at his deputy in the center of the tower:
"General! Let me lead five hundred men out of the city and take this madman's head!"
"Shut up!" The deputy general guarding the city was ashen-faced, but he stood motionless on the city tower. "That is Lei Mengsha, the Zhuo Mo Gongzi, one of the Eight Young Masters of Beili. With your skills, you won't last three rounds before you die under his Jing Shen Zhi!"
"The Marquis's orders are absolute—anyone who leaves the city to engage in battle without authorization will be executed on the spot! All of you, stand your ground!"
Seeing no movement from the city wall, Lei Mengsha cursed even more fiercely.
He spurred his horse forward a few more steps, almost reaching the moat, and pointed towards the city gate:
"That burly, dark-faced man on the city wall, looks like you're the garrison commander of Hanzhong City? Bah! In my opinion, you're the number one coward! Leading over ten thousand men to defend this wretched city, you don't even dare to fart!"
"If you're really that capable, come down and exchange a few blows with me! I'll give you a handicap, but if you lose, I, Lei Mengsha, will call you grandpa!"
The soldiers guarding the city wall were furious, and the deputy general guarding Hanzhong had veins throbbing on his forehead. His hand gripping the hilt of his sword was white, but he still stared intently down below without saying a word.
Seeing this, Lei Mengsha's eyes darted around, and he suddenly changed his tone, adding a strong sense of sarcasm:
"Oh—I understand! It's not that you don't want to fight, it's that you're afraid to fight! You're afraid of losing to Young Master Zhuo Mo, right?"
"We won't be able to explain this to the Marquis of Zhenxi when we get back, will we?"
"That's true. After all, your Marquis is getting old and his temper is getting worse. If you lose, you might lose your heads!"
"How pitiful! The mighty Pofeng Army, once an iron army that fought bloody battles against the Western Chu medicine people, has now fallen to this state—its commander is as cowardly as a mouse, and its soldiers are as timid as chickens!"
His insults grew increasingly vile, each word piercing the heart. Behind him, the Northern Li army erupted in uproarious laughter, with many soldiers joining in the jeering.
"Coward!"
"A coward without eggs!"
"Go home and drink your milk!"
The soldiers guarding the city walls were all flushed red, their eyes practically spitting fire.
Several hot-tempered young officers gritted their teeth, their hands trembling as they gripped their weapons.
"General!"
Another lieutenant, unable to bear it any longer, shouted, "Let me take a thousand men out of the city! If Lei Mengsha isn't killed, I'll bring you my head!"
Sheng Yanwei turned his head sharply, his eyes flashing with cold light: "You want to disobey the Marquis's military orders?"
The officer was speechless when he was pierced by his gaze, but his anger was hard to quell, so he could only slam his fist hard on the battlement, sending bricks and stones flying.
Lei Mengsha saw everything clearly from below the city walls, secretly chuckling to himself, but his mouth kept moving:
"What's wrong? You brother who's been smashing the wall up there, what kind of skill is it to vent your anger on the wall? If you're so capable, come down here and smash me instead, my chest is itching to go!"
"But judging from your cowardly appearance, you probably can't even hold a gun properly, right? Want me to teach you a few moves?"
As Lei Mengsha spoke, he pretended to reach into his breastplate to scratch an itch, which looked ridiculous and made the silver-clad soldiers behind him laugh even louder.
Xun Yichuan watched from behind, unable to help but shake his head and smile bitterly.
He knew Lei Mengsha was known for his gossip, and this was a deliberate attempt to provoke the guards, but the insults were so vicious and vulgar that even he couldn't help but chuckle.
The cursing lasted from the afternoon until the sun began to set.
Lei Mengsha's voice became hoarse from shouting, so a loud-voiced captain took over.
The content ranges from mocking the incompetence of the defending troops to ridiculing the cowardly deputy general in charge of defending the city, and then to fabricating all sorts of unfounded embarrassing incidents involving the Breaking Wind Army. The variety of content is constantly evolving and emerging.
The defenders on the city wall went from initial anger to frustration, and finally to near numbness.
But that fire grew stronger with each day of insults, burning so intensely that everyone felt a tightness in their chest and their eyes turned red.
On the third day, Lei Mengsha changed her strategy.
He stopped simply hurling insults and started playing psychological warfare.
At dawn, he ordered his men to escort several captured Pofeng Army scouts—captured during a scout skirmish a few days earlier—to the front lines. Lei Mengsha ordered the junior officer to push these Pofeng Army scouts to the front.
"Brothers on the city walls, take a good look!" Lei Mengsha slapped a prisoner's face. "These people are your comrades from the Breaking Wind Army! But now you don't care about their lives?"
"I think you're too scared to come out. You just cower in the city and don't even have the guts to save people!"
One of the Windbreaker scouts struggled and roared, "General! Don't worry about us! We can't leave the city!"
Lei Meng kicked him to the ground and continued shouting towards the city wall:
"Did you hear that? Your comrades, even on the verge of death, were still thinking of you! And what did you do? Just stood by and watched?"
On the city wall, many soldiers turned their faces away, unable to bear to look any longer. Some clenched their fists so tightly that their nails dug into their flesh.
Sheng Yanwei's face was ashen, then he suddenly raised his hand: "Archers."
"General?"
"Aim at those prisoners," Sheng Yanwei said coldly. "Give them a quick death."
"What?!" the lieutenant exclaimed in horror.
"The Broken Wind Army will never suffer humiliation! I will report to the Marquis that they will receive generous compensation for their families!" The lieutenant closed his eyes in anguish, two streams of tears sliding down his cheeks—
"Fire arrows!"
Arrows rained down, and the prisoners in front of the lines fell screaming.
Lei Mengsha was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage: "Are you all insane?! You're even killing your own people?!"
The lieutenant was a tough nut to crack; he opened his tear-filled eyes and roared:
"Lei Mengsha, you are a prominent figure in Beili! If you want to attack a city, then attack; if you want to withdraw your troops, then withdraw. There's no need to resort to such despicable means!"
Seeing that the deputy general was indeed a man of unyielding integrity, Lei Mengsha felt a sense of mutual respect for him. He sighed, turned his horse around, and returned to his own camp.
Upon seeing Xun Yichuan, Lei Mengsha looked somewhat dejected:
"It seems that just cursing won't work. Tomorrow, I'll personally lead the attack on the city! I, Lei Mengsha, will see how long they can endure this!"
Xun Yichuan frowned: "General Lei, His Highness ordered us to launch a feint attack. A full-scale assault would result in too many losses..."
"Even a feint attack has to look real!" Lei Mengsha gritted his teeth. "If we don't teach them a lesson, they'll really think we're just here to put on a show!"
……