Chapter 445: Fu Baoguo’s Woes
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
When Yutang"s thirty thousand men of the Steel Cavalry had set out earlier, He Dachui was lying in the snow at the sides of the forest like a lizard, watching in awestruck wonder as the army tore into each other. The devastation that was horrifyingly grand and touching shook He Dachui deeply, swaying his heart and shocking him to the core.
"What good men they are!"
Since that day, He Dachui had praised Yutang"s Steel Cavalry highly, admiring and yearning to be as brave as they were.
In fact, there were many times that the deafening roars of Yutang"s Steel Cavalry would fill his waking thoughts. He Dachui had even dreamed that he was one of Yutang"s Steel Cavalry, braving the battlefield together and bathing in blood with them, with a roar that shook the heaven and intimidated the enemy to no end!
Gradually, there a strange thought began to take shape within He Dachui.
It was a mixture of yearning, pa.s.sion, and no small amount disdain. He was suddenly thinking, "If I were to lead my people and help the army fight in the war, will it be as exhilarating and fearless as all the acts of valor I have seen?"
"It shouldn"t be too difficult to obtain merit and credit during these times, should it?"
"It would be even better if I were to be made an officer because of this!"
Of course, He Dachui had never mentioned his thoughts to his subordinate brothers.
"Brothers, I want to discuss something with everyone. Now that the country is stricken with war, we are bandits, but we still come from Yutang after all. Now that our homeland is in the depth of trouble, we can"t ignore it. I plan to help Marshal Fu when the armies fight again, do you all have any opinion on this? Don"t hold back if you don"t agree. This is purely flirting with death, so much more dangerous than what we used to do that even I, myself, am a little hesitant about this. I will not hold anything against you if you speak up."
A few leading members exchanged wary looks for quite a while before someone finally spoke, "It"s a matter of course that Boss thinks this way. We have been drifting along in life anyway and have never really done anything good for our country. Now that the country is facing hard times, it"s only our duty to fight for it. Even if we lose our lives, it wouldn"t be a waste. It"s better than leaving behind the legacy of a bandit after our pa.s.sing."
Right after his short speech, everyone began to let known their thoughts as well.
After all, everyone knew their reputation among ordinary citizens. If they could get rid of the bandit hat that was pinned on their heads, it would, of course, be a delightful achievement. More so, they were confident about their capabilities and even felt that they would win against Yutang"s Steel Cavalry if it came to a fuel. They had a high chance of leaving unscathed after the war!
He Dachui felt somewhat guilty about his intentions. After all, his mighty plan greatly involved the lives of his brothers as his bargaining chips in exchange for wealth and prosperity.
Besides, how could no one die when it was a war?
In spite of his misgivings, he was thrilled at the bright future that awaited him.
After watching a few small-scale battles, He Dachui came to a conclusion. Yutang"s Steel Cavalry and Dongxuan"s Shadow Cavalry were not at an advantage at all, in terms of individual standards, compared to his Wolf Bandits; there were plenty of men whose cultivation bases were worse than his brothers. If they had an equal number of men on both sides, his Wolf Bandits would emerge victorious, with overwhelming success.
"What we have to do now is to wait for the right time. Once there"s a battle, the similar number of people and combat power will result in a stand-off. When I abruptly add our forces into Yutang"s side, it will be the last straw that causes the enemy to crumble. Not only can it win the war for the army easily, the Wolf Bandits" name can be glorified. It might help us take up a spot in Yutang"s military!"
"If so, the risk is not to be mentioned at all… This can be done and should be done!"
He Dachui decided swiftly, and drank a good amount of wine with his Wolf Bandits brothers, emptying the last of their supplies rapidly.
…
The day had finally come.
The chance He Dachui was waiting for arrived. Truth be told though, such a chance existed basically every day.
Previously, the Steel Cavalry"s breach was already considered a great humiliation by Dongxuan"s Shadow Cavalry. They were invested in the art of provocation while standing guard at the Fortress of Resilience every day, galloping like the wind with all sorts of attempts at goading taking pace.
Yutang had won victoriously and its morale was spiking to the highest point. Despite Fu Baoguo"s stern control of commands, there were times when they were unable to hold back their zest.
Choosing the moment when Dongxuan"s Shadow Cavalry prodded about and lost energy, Fu Baoguo would send a squad of cavalrymen to expend their combat ability. If there was a gain from it, then all the more it would come as a delightful surprise!
Therefore, both sides would battle it out almost every day after that war. The battlefield that they met on had become a crimson red from how much fighting was going on, the ice stained with fresh blood.
On this day, the Shadow Cavalry went to their extremes with their expletives, going over the Steel Cavalry"s bottom line. The two troops of cavalrymen, tens of thousands of people each, submitted a letter of blood to ask to fight.
No matter how reluctant Fu Baoguo was, he eventually lifted the ban and ordered w.a.n.g Dingguo to personally lead the fight into the Fortress of Resilience.
War against Dongxuan"s Shadow Cavalry.
Twenty thousand cavalrymen, Shadow Cavalry and Steel Cavalry, the top cavalries in Tianxuan Continent and the only two elite cavalries that could stand against each other in this world – wore the same black helmets and black armor. The battle was fierce, earth-shattering in it"s ferocity.
Fu Baoguo stood atop the city wall, looking worried.
In all honesty, Fu Baoguo did not want to fight this battle. Yutang"s Steel Cavalry was not his trump card but it was one of his aces. It had been to boost morale and with multiple setups only then did he use his ace card and the result was as predicted, a decisive victory.
Not only was the enemy"s spirit drained, their morale was escalated to the peak. It was advantageous that their fighting spirit was spurred but there was nothing without a con in this world; boosted morale was similarly accompanied by its con.
The con was that these mighty fighters were never the easiest of people to manage. Now that they were flooded with the glory of victory, they felt invincible. The enemy"s provocation, the loser"s goading, was like a spark thrown into kerosene – unstoppable once lit.
If he repressed them by force, it would only hinder the motivation his soldiers had and were all the more inappropriate. That was why Fu Baoguo had lifted the ban despite knowing that this fight was not at all beneficial to the overall situation, allowing Steel Cavalry to go against Shadow Cavalry in hopes that they would not lose out too much based on the boosted morale they had.
Seeing that both sides were deploying troops to start the war, Fu Baoguo was still recalling the favorite lines of every veteran and fresh blood at the Fortress of Resilience.
"Thirty thousand men can already wipe out the temper of three hundred thousand men, what can be made out of them?"
"What the f*ck is the hoo-ha about? They really think we"re scared of them?"
Yutang"s army"s confidence was over the moon, not at all understanding the woes and calculations of their marshal.
If it had been the past, Fu Baoguo had no end of tactics to quell such emotions. Now though, the war tied to the national fate of Yutang was impending; Fu Baoguo could only temporarily repress such confidence for victory, he could never forcefully nip it in the bud.
Such a situation led only to one thing – he had to send them to fight when the enemy came poking around this time or else the rocketing morale could hardly be maintained or vented out.
To exhaust their br.i.m.m.i.n.g morale with war and to spur their sense of vengeance using their comrades" sacrifice, such a form of battle was destined to be imminent. To want to revert to the constant defense was already impossible as much as it was also unfavorable.
Fu Baoguo looked confident all along as he watched the twenty thousand cavalrymen fight with devotion under the fortress, but inwardly, he was filled with helplessness and bitterness!
The battle of twenty thousand cavalrymen, each from Yutang"s Steel Cavalry and Dongxuan"s Shadow Cavalry, involved the elites of the elites, the knights putting their lives at stake to fight for the t.i.tle of the top cavalry in the world.
What could be seen was that the battle took up the perimeter of five hundred miles where horses galloped and blades flashed.
It was obvious that the Steel Cavalry was more motivated, but the Shadow Cavalry was also using an attempted tactic; a life for a life.
The collision of both sides on the battleground showed no signs of weakening. It was like thunder from the heavens had sparked the fire on the earth; they pushed forward, not taking a single step back nor retreating, letting the blood and flesh stack up on the ground. There was only the other party in their eyes; as they charged through each other"s troop, they reined their horses back to battle it out again.
Such a battle was the silliest method one could think of but also the most gratifying! It was how a man should fight.
Both sides were giving their all. There were cheering above Yutang"s Fortress of Resilience, so were their cheers coming from Dongxuan"s troop across the field. The clamor and spurring that came from more than a few million people pushed the battlefield to a vehement mayhem.
Everyone could no longer hear what the person next to them was shouting; they could only shriek loudly with all their might.
"After this battle today, Yutang can still be at an advantageous side without losing morale… but such a drain on their hope is too cruel."
Fu Baoguo contemplated, "Dongxuan"s military strength is abundant, so they can naturally keep on turning themselves back. On the other hand, we can"t afford it even if we"re having the edge now!"
"I must think of other ways to reduce our exhaustion so as to wound the enemy but not us… but how can this be so simple?"
"What warfare tactic should I use? To be able to utilize my current limited manpower in its biggest potential to drag Han Sanhe"s army of two million men on?"
Fu Baoguo was still pondering but his gaze froze suddenly, looking into the faraway forest in disbelief. His jaw almost went slack. "What – what is that?!"
From the dense forest, a cavalry squad of over a thousand men, people, shot out like an arrow out of the blue, going straight for the battlefield where the two troops were still fighting.
There was no movement coming from Dongxuan nor was there any action taken by Yutang.
Where did this cavalry come from? What was its intention?
Were they friend or foe?