Chapter 1 A Joyful Event

Li Fusheng was the very picture of a man riding the crest of good fortune.

Zheng Fan led troops to battle more to enjoy the feeling of command, of galloping across the field and directing thousands of men as he pleased; in short, to show off.

Li Fusheng wasn't like that. He simply loved killing.

The blind man had once said that a person’s eyes were the hardest thing to lie with, and the crimson in Li Fusheng’s eyes was a crazed testament to his current thirst for blood.

"Guard Zheng, come with me."

This was actually a gesture of goodwill. First, it would broaden his horizons, since Zheng Fan’s previous victories had all been lightning strikes and guerrilla warfare, and he’d only faced the slow-witted wolf-dogs.

Second, it would help him build up his qualifications. While managing affairs in the city from the rear was also meritorious, the traditional Yan view held that bloody military exploits were the most reliable path to promotion. Other achievements paled in comparison.

It was like how many older folks in later generations felt that being a civil servant was the only real job.

Truth be told, Zheng Fan really wanted to see what a battle on the scale of tens of thousands of men looked like. Besides, with the blind man and the others in the city, nothing should go wrong. So he cupped his fist and bowed, saying,

"Thank you, sir!"

"Haha."

Li Fusheng walked out of the room. The lazy Pixiu immediately stood up and bent its forelegs in front of him.

Li Fusheng leaped onto its back, and ordered:

"Pass down my order: The army moves out!"

"Dong, dong, dong! Dong, dong, dong! Dong, dong, dong!"

Outside the south gate, squads of Northern Garrison cavalry were deploying in an orderly fashion. Two thousand cavalry could not be deployed all at once, swarming in one direction, if they were to carry out a combat mission.

Li Fusheng personally led three thousand cavalry as the central army. His six guerrilla generals each led nearly three thousand cavalry, advancing toward the reported locations based on scout reports.

If there were an aerial view at this moment, one could see seven rapidly moving shadows south of Chuzhou City.

Zheng Fan and Liang Cheng naturally stayed with Li Fusheng's central army. Originally, the 2,500 cavalry from Cui Liu Fort should have been Li Fusheng’s temporary personal guard, but first, the soldiers of Cui Liu Fort had been busy all night and had not yet rested. Second, Li Fusheng had to consider the combat desires of his own soldiers.

A truly powerful army was a confident army. They were not afraid of war; they craved it, and rejoiced at the prospect.

Liang Cheng kept a close watch on his surroundings. Orderly riders darted back and forth between the squads, ensuring timely command.

Cavalry tactics were actually very diverse, far more flexible than infantry. At the same time, their mobility allowed them to seize more battlefield opportunities. But commanding cavalry well was a great art.

Clearly, whether Li Fusheng was a lunatic as the blind man said or not, his military command skills were very high.

This was not something learned from theoretical exercises, but from years of fighting against the barbarian cavalry masters on the desert.

Previously, the reason for staying in Chuzhou City for two or three days, aside from political considerations, was twofold:

First, to obtain supplies, because the supplies carried by the troops were not very abundant due to the need for long-distance raids.

Second, to rest the horses. Warhorses were both expensive and precious. They had to be rested after a long march, otherwise, the losses would be great.

However, after resting, it was like having a pillow just when one was about to fall asleep—a Qian army had appeared.

Unlike Guard Zheng, who lived a frugal life, Li Fusheng was obviously much more domineering.

His first reaction upon seeing the enemy was not to assess their strength and the potential losses to his own side, but only one word:

Fight!

At this moment, Li Fusheng had just finished listening to a messenger's report and immediately laughed and cursed,

"Straight motherfucker, these Qian men actually shrunk their balls!"

Zheng Fan was next to Li Fusheng. This was not the time for questions and answers.

But Li Fusheng’s mood seemed to be affected by this military report. He was both dismissive and relaxed, and he turned his head to Zheng Fan and said,

"I don't know where this Qian army came from, but it certainly wasn't from the north. They probably don't know that Chuzhou City has changed hands. They were foolishly marching here this morning. Now they must have sensed something was wrong and are heading towards Qingshan County in the southwest."

"This isn't a Qian army specifically coming to attack and retake Chuzhou City?"

Including Zheng Fan, most of the people and dignitaries in Chuzhou thought that this Qian army, which had suddenly appeared on the outskirts of Chuzhou City, was a royal army specifically sent to beat the Yan dogs.

But it didn't seem to be the case.

It was still unclear what this army was and where it had come from, but judging from their previous foolishly marching towards Chuzhou City and now panicking and heading towards a nearby county town,

This should just be a……Qian army passing by.

No wonder, Chuzhou City fell too quickly, and the Northern Garrison took it with little resistance. At the same time, the Northern Garrison’s scouts were spread out over a large area, almost isolating the city from the outside world.

The Northern Garrison’s scouts were masters who could fight the barbarian warriors in the desert without losing ground. How could the Qian army’s scouts be their opponents?

Moreover, the Qian people did not expect that the Yan people would skip the three border regions and come directly here, taking Chuzhou City with lightning speed.

This isolation naturally could not block all the news. Some information would still be transmitted, but in this era, the transmission of news itself was inherently delayed.

At the same time, the timeliness of the news received by the army during its march was greatly reduced.

In short,

Due to various reasons, this 30,000-strong Qian army almost ran into Chuzhou City like a savior.

Presumably, the general of that army had noticed something was wrong. Even the most foolish general knew to divide the army into front, rear, and central forces, and to send out scouts to expand the field of vision, and even to send people to Chuzhou City in advance to inform the city to prepare for the army's passage that night.

Then, the other party should have discovered that the people they sent to Chuzhou City and the scouts they sent out only went out and never returned. Sensing that something was wrong, out of a general's instinct, they chose to move closer to a nearby county town that could respond.

"Hehe, I'm not a cat, how can I let it tease me and then just ignore it?"

Li Fusheng continued,

"Pass down the order, the entire army speeds up!"

Zheng Fan knew that he was planning to intercept the other party before they approached Qingshan County.

Cavalry could only exert their greatest combat power and gain the greatest advantage in the wilderness. Although Zheng Fan had never been to Qingshan County, county towns in this era must have city walls. Once that Qian army entered the county town, even if the city walls were not very high, it would still give the Northern Garrison a big headache.

The reason for choosing a great leap forward tactic was precisely to avoid gnawing at the Qian people's heavily fortified cities in the three border regions. Even if they were to attack a city, it would have to be the Qian capital.

When attacking the Qian capital, no matter how many men died or how much the Yan army’s lives were consumed, it would not be considered a loss.

Under Li Fusheng's order, the entire army began to accelerate, no longer caring about the horses’ strength.

Finally,

A messenger came to report that the vanguard had discovered the enemy formation.

Li Fusheng immediately ordered the two guerrilla generals leading the vanguard to detour and outflank them, blocking the possibility of the other party continuing to approach Qingshan County.

"Hehe, we caught up."

Li Fusheng was in a great mood. He was actually a little worried that he would not be able to catch up and the Qian army would enter the city.

The Northern Garrison had a major weakness, namely, their lack of experience in siege warfare, which could even be said to be almost nonexistent.

After all, other than the royal court's location, which had a city, the rest of the barbarian tribes had no cities at all.

Finally, the central army also arrived.

What Zheng Fan saw was that the other party’s formation was also very orderly. Although it was mostly infantry, it did not panic too much in the face of the approaching cavalry.

Spearmen were in the front and on both sides, with shieldmen in the middle. Inside, there should be crossbowmen and archers. The other party’s few cavalry were placed in the rear.

This was what Zheng Fan, a battlefield newbie, saw.

Although he had fought a few battles, Zheng Fan had only commanded the capture of forts or charged at city gates. Even the battle that crushed the wolf-dogs was commanded by Liang Cheng himself, and Zheng Fan had only acted as a cavalryman following orders.

However, even so, Zheng Fan felt that the Qian army in front of him was unusual. This formation looked very anti-cavalry.

"My lord, the other party should have divided the 30,000 troops into three parts, forming a triangular formation." Liang Cheng said to Zheng Fan, "This formation can facilitate mutual support. If there are enough arrows, they can also provide mutual suppression."

Zheng Fan only saw the front row, but Liang Cheng had already discerned the other party’s formation.

It was like the huge difference between the perspective of God watching a football game from the center of the field or in front of the TV and the perspective of a player playing on the field.

Excellent generals can observe details to achieve an effect similar to "opening the eyes of heaven."

Li Fusheng glanced at Liang Cheng with some surprise and said,

"Straight motherfucker, who is this Qian general? He's a capable commander."

As he spoke, Li Fusheng pointed to Liang Cheng and asked,

"Do you know what he means by this?"

"Hold out for reinforcements." Liang Cheng replied.

"Yes, hold out for reinforcements."

Because the two cavalry units leading the vanguard had caught up with the other party in time and detoured to cut off their retreat, the Qian general on the opposite side chose to set up a formation on the spot and wait.

The other party did not choose to break through the nearly 6,000 Yan cavalry and open the road to Qingshan County, even though Qingshan County was not far ahead.

Because the other party was cavalry, and his side was mostly infantry, it would be difficult to break through the other party's blockade in time. Most importantly, the Qian general on the opposite side should have seen that the two Yan cavalry units that had cut off his retreat were just the vanguard, and that more Yan cavalry were rushing over.

Once he took the initiative to launch an attack, it would be easy for the Yan cavalry to counterattack. If the formation of an army mainly composed of infantry was broken when facing a cavalry group, it would be a real disaster!

"Pass down the order, let Sun Guyi and Yue Yuchen each send a thousand cavalry to test the waters."

Li Fusheng's order was quickly passed down,

Immediately afterwards,

In the previously relatively static battle situation,

Two thousand-man cavalry units broke away from their own army formation and began to approach the Qian army's formation.

Zheng Fan couldn't help but take another look at Li Fusheng. This Commander-in-chief might really be mentally ill, but his mind for fighting was still exceptionally clear.

"My lord, this move has two purposes. One is to test the other party's strength and see if it's just a show, and the other is to choose which army formation is weaker since the other party has formed a triangular formation, making it easier to attack."

"Guard Zheng." Li Fusheng called out.

"Sir?" Zheng Fan was listening attentively and turned to look at Li Fusheng.

"Is this man your family slave?"

"Uh, yes."

Presumably, Li Fusheng heard Liang Cheng call him "My lord."

The Yan country had a strong slave culture. Oh no, to be precise, in this era, family slaves and family generals existed in almost every country, not just the Yan country.

To some extent, the seven Commander-in-chiefs under the command of the Marquis of the North were actually family generals of the Li family, the Marquis of the North.

"Guard Zheng is truly both civil and military, this family slave is well-trained."

"…………" Zheng Fan.

Damn it,

He was clearly listening to Liang Cheng's lecture like an elementary school student,

But from Li Fusheng's perspective, it seemed that he was deliberately testing his family slave.

Liang Cheng cupped his fist and said,

"It is my master who taught me well."

"Yes, yes, then I will test you for your master. How should we break this situation? The other party has chosen to hold out for reinforcements, so we don't have much time left."

"Sir, you're joking. The other party can hold out for reinforcements, so are we just going deep into enemy territory?"

"What do you mean?" Li Fusheng narrowed his eyes.

"During the march earlier, you should have sent messengers to contact other troops nearby."

"Good, good."

Li Fusheng nodded with satisfaction.

The Qian general on the opposite side chose to hold out for reinforcements, because that general should be thinking that this was the territory of the Qian country, and Qian troops should be able to support them easily.

At that time, they could either bite onto this Yan cavalry or cooperate with the reinforcements to force them back.

But this time, the Yan army had 250,000 iron cavalry going south. Although the troops were dispersed when they entered the territory of Chuzhou, there must be other troops nearby.

The middle and lower-level soldiers might not know the distance and location of the various units, but Li Fusheng, as the leader of the army, naturally knew it clearly.

After all, even if the Yan army that went south was scattered, they were not a group of mad dogs out of their cages, but a group of wolves from the north.

Wolves were best at cooperating.

The Qian general on the opposite side was thinking of holding out and waiting for reinforcements, but he did not know that there might be more wolves nearby than reinforcements.

"Guard Zheng, what is his military position?" Li Fusheng asked.

"A captain under Cui Liu Fort." Zheng Fan replied.

"Oh." Li Fusheng nodded.

Just as the two were talking,

The two thousand-man cavalry units that had been sent out had already approached the Qian army formation, and the Qian army formation immediately became tense.

Li Fusheng's eyes narrowed slightly, and Liang Cheng was also staring intently,

The guard Zheng, who was sandwiched between the two, looked at the two people next to him and immediately looked very seriously, his eyes were a little sore.

The two thousand-man cavalry units were naturally not going to charge into the formation. The previous charge stirred up a lot of dust and created a lot of momentum, but they reined in their horses in a safe area, and while turning their horses, they drew their bows and nocked arrows and began to fire.

The accuracy of volley firing was naturally much worse, but no matter how good you were at riding and shooting, it was not for you to compete with infantry with complete arms to see who was better at this.

The rain of arrows quickly fell, and the Qian army formation was in turmoil.

In fact, there was not much actual damage, unless some people were particularly unlucky, but for ordinary people, they would subconsciously be afraid even if someone threw a snowball at them, let alone arrows.

The two thousand-man cavalry units charged back and forth twice, still only volleying while maintaining a safe distance. Archers and crossbowmen in the opposing army formation also began to counterattack.

The casualties on both sides were actually very sporadic, but you still had to fight back, otherwise, your own morale would decline. The pressure of being beaten without being able to fight back was too great for the soldiers.

"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"

Just as the two thousand-man cavalry units were preparing to withdraw from the battle and return to their own formation, an ear-piercing sound of the air being torn apart suddenly came from the enemy formation.

Ballista!

There were ballista in the other party's formation!

For a time, a string of crossbow bolts that were taller than an average person was shot towards a thousand-man cavalry unit.

A total of five crossbow bolts were fired, three missed, and one hit a Northern Garrison knight's warhorse, directly piercing its crotch, and the horse's body was as if torn apart. The knight above fell to the ground, but fortunately, his quick-witted comrade reached out in time to grab him and put him on his own horse.

Another ballista shot through three Yan knights in a row, and blood splattered everywhere.

Cheers immediately erupted from the Qian army formation, and their morale soared!

However,

Li Fusheng didn't even blink an eye at this scene, at the life and death of his subordinates. He even had a smile on his face as he reached out to stroke the fur of the Pixiu under him,

He seemed to be interested again and asked:

"Did you see anything?"

Liang Cheng calmly replied:

"The army formation directly in front of us is the most stable. The formation has not wavered, and the timing of the counterattack was also well-grasped.

The two army formations behind it, the one on the west side is still okay. The soldiers are flustered but not chaotic.

Only the army formation on the east side has its formation obviously compressed, and the crossbowmen and archers in the center are counterattacking erratically and without rhythm.

Three army formations, three different levels. This Qian army is not an independent unit, but more like several units pieced together temporarily."

After listening, Li Fusheng said:

"Then our army will attack the army formation on the east side first?"

Liang Cheng shook his head and said:

"My lord taught me that what is weak should be made strong, and what is strong should be made weak. The situation on the battlefield is ever-changing and extremely treacherous.

The main general of the Qian army did not choose to forcibly break through at the beginning, but instead set up a formation on the spot. This proves that he is a cautious general.

Even if it is an army pieced together temporarily, it is impossible to leave such an obvious flaw and gap here while setting up such a formation.

There should be a backup plan inside the army formation on the east side."

Li Fusheng reached out and suddenly patted Zheng Fan's shoulder.

The strength was a little too great, and Zheng Fan, an eighth-rank martial artist, almost fell off his horse.

"Guard Zheng, you have really opened my eyes. You are both civil and military, truly a great talent!"

"…………" Guard Zheng.

"The Marquis really didn't misjudge you. No, I think the Marquis was wrong. If the Marquis knew that Guard Zheng had such literary and martial skills, according to the Marquis's temper, he would even fight the Marquis of the South to snatch you over."

Hehe, hehe……

Zheng Fan was a little embarrassed. He was just an extra in what happened last night. The blind man and Si Niang were the ones who did everything;

Just now, Liang Cheng was the one who said everything. He was just learning.

People who cheat always feel guilty,

Zheng Fan said:

"Sir, you are praising me too much. I am just talking about war on paper, talking about war on paper."

"Talking about war on paper, what does that mean?" Li Fusheng asked.

"Uh………" Zheng Fan.

Liang Cheng spoke at this time:

"Sir, that is a book on military strategy written by my master himself."

"………" Zheng Fan.

"A book on military strategy? Hmph, then I am really interested. We roughnecks can also write books and establish theories. Not simple, not simple. What is the name of this book?"

Liang Cheng replied with a straight face:

"The Zhengzi Art of War."