The Demon Lords-Chapter 646 - 116 Sadness_1
The formation of the Blue Luan Army was extremely organized. Chu heavily relied on infantry, as they faced a similar problem to Qian State: a lack of horses. Furthermore, it is often one's opponent who dictates the key course of one's development.
For centuries, the Yan people had to confront barbarians in the desert, so it was imperative for them to have their own heavy cavalry to counterbalance them.
The Chu people, on the other hand, needed to battle the Shanyue people in impoverished and difficult terrains. Although the heyday of the Shanyue people had long passed, their resistance still emerged intermittently. In such rugged and dangerous terrains, the use of cavalry was limited, leading to the rise of Chu's heavily armored infantry and naval forces.
At the moment, the thousands of Yan Army soldiers who had just crossed the river mostly lacked warhorses. The Eldest Prince's military adventure should have been successful. Yet, they hadn't expected an elite Chu force to be hiding in Jade Plate City.
Thinking about it this way, the new dynasty established by Situ Yi was truly like a spittoon, used by various forces and then discarded without any regret.
"I have prepared food and wine in the city," Qu TianNan said. "I invite the Yan State's Eldest Prince to honor us with his presence."
Chu State was governed by a united aristocracy; every nobleman had their own fief and highly valued lineage and heritage.
Yao Zizhan, who in his youth enjoyed sharply critiquing current events, once said: "Qian people's rituals focus on complexity, while Chu people's rituals prioritize returning to ancient traditions."
This meant that the Qian people pursued ceremonial rituals that were as intricate, formal, and complicated as possible.
Meanwhile, the Chu people continually chased the traditions of their ancestors, striving to emulate their forefathers in all things. The most obvious example of this was the continued existence of Witch Doctors, a very ancient profession, in Chu State. Within the Chu imperial palace, the Office of Witch Doctors specialized in diligently researching and discovering ancient healing methods.
At the same time, Chu had another distinctive feature. During any internal rebellion or military conflict, soldiers could die. However, captured or surrendered aristocratic generals from both sides had to be treated with courtesy and returned, at most, with a ransom.
Therefore, when Qu TianNan invited the Eldest Prince into the city, saying he had prepared food and wine, he was not lying.
The Eldest Prince, clasping the handle of his saber, smiled. "Historical records show that the Ji Family has had emperors die in battle, but none of our descendants have ever surrendered to the enemy on the battlefield!"
Qu TianNan paused for a moment before nodding his head.
Different cultural concepts result in diverging patterns of thought. In Qu TianNan's view, the Yan prince's disregard for his noble bloodline was somewhat demeaning.
Qu TianNan waved his hand forward, and the Blue Luan Army began to advance.
Li Bao inhaled deeply and roared, "All men of the North Border Army!"
"HOOAH!"
"HOOAH!"
"HOOAH!"
All the Yan Army soldiers clenched their sabers, and the archers drew their bows again and nocked arrows.
Li Bao turned back to look at the Eldest Prince, saying, "Please withdraw, Your Highness. We will cover your retreat."
"Did you not hear what I just said?"
"Dying is easy; living is actually harder. After this battle, someone has to take responsibility, to face the wrath of the Emperor and the people. Please, Your Highness, live on to bear that responsibility. We can't dilly-dally on the battlefield. Besides, your head is too precious. I don't want the Chu people to hang it on a flagpole as a show of dominance."
His words were brutally direct.
The surprise attack on Jade Plate City had failed the moment the Chu Blue Luan Army appeared. The Wang River battle of the Eastern Conquest Army would end with devastating losses.
At this point, death in battle seemed a fitting end. For a hundred years, the Yan people had not experienced such a defeat. Especially in recent years, the series of major victories achieved by the Earl of North Border and Lord Jingnan had suddenly elevated the morale of the Yan people. From the court to the army, and down to the common folk, everyone seemed to believe that under the Black Dragon flag, they were invincible. This was the posture Yan was meant to have. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞
"Your Highness, you know Li Fusheng's temperament. If he's put in charge of cleaning up this mess, he might fly into a rage and massacre everyone in Ying Capital City. You must go back and regroup our forces. We couldn't cross this river, but we also can't let the Chu people and the wild people cross over to our side easily."
The Eldest Prince's face twitched. Li Bao had voiced his innermost thoughts. As a prince, and one trained as a great general by his Imperial Father since childhood, this defeat left him with no courage to face the subsequent recriminations. No matter how many reasons there were, a defeated general was simply incompetent!
"Personal Guard, escort His Highness across the river!" Li Bao issued the order.
Then, hiding nothing from his men, he roared, "All men of the North Border Army, follow me to cover His Highness's retreat! We'll die as heroes, and the Eldest Prince will live to clean up our mess!"
"HAHAHA!"
"HAHAHA!"
The entire army erupted in laughter. There was no sorrow in being the rearguard, only bold heroism.
The Eldest Prince bit his lip. At that moment, the person who came to mind was Tian Wujing. He wondered if that man, when deciding to eliminate his entire family, had also, like himself now, resolved to face the censure of history and the world. But regardless, he was the commander-in-chief. Li Bao was right; death was easy. A prince fallen in battle would be a tragic figure, at least enough to earn a few tears from his Imperial Father. Once a man died in battle, no matter how great the fault, it would no longer be pursued. The world was always particularly forgiving of the dead. But on the other side of the river, a large army awaited him. He had to regain control of the situation, otherwise, if it all collapsed...
Without needing the personal guards to support him, the Eldest Prince began to run. Back, back, back…
Behind the Eldest Prince, facing the relentlessly advancing Blue Luan Army, Li Bao raised his saber with his one arm and bellowed, "Our resolve is to break their lines!"
The surrounding thousands of North Border Army soldiers roared in unison, "To die with no surrender!"
「...」
The flower boat was already approaching the gate of the water control city. The young man sighed with a hint of emotion, "If I remember correctly, their central army is the so-called North Border Army, right?"
The swordsmith nodded, saying, "They are a sharp blade the Yan people honed using the Barbarians."
"Alas, it's a pity. This time, the Yan people only lost their Left Army. How great it would be if it were the North Border Army."
Such an elite force, since it belongs to another country, the more of them that die, the better.
The swordsmith stated bluntly, "If it were the North Border Army, would we have dared to let them cross the river as their Left Army did?"
"True. But our Chu State must take this opportunity to buy horses from the wild people and build our own cavalry. I hear it's very expensive?"
"Exceedingly so."
"Then you'll have to work harder, make more swords, and sell them."
"If I make too many, they won't be worth as much."
"Oh, dear, tsk tsk."
The young man walked to the edge of the boat and, unceremoniously, unfastened his trousers. He had been scared into urinating once when crossing the river; this was now the third time.
At this moment, some of the Yan Army corpses floating down from upstream had already drifted into the tributary, and the river water was beginning to turn red.
The young man felt no thrill from winning his bet. Looking at the corpses on the river, even the usually pleasant act of relieving himself suddenly seemed tasteless.
「...」
Meanwhile, on the other side, things proceeded without mishap. Li Bao successfully led his troops to intercept the Blue Luan Army, allowing the Eldest Prince to cross the river and return to the western bank.
The Blue Luan Army had been concealed within the city, so they naturally couldn't execute any flanking maneuvers beforehand for fear of being discovered, nor could they have set up any so-called inescapable net.
Most importantly, these thousands of North Border Army soldiers exuded an incredibly fierce fighting spirit.
The Shanyue people were often fearless in the face of death, showing little regard for their own lives, likely stemming from a feeling of indifference towards their own perceived worthless existence. The Blue Luan Army, having fought the Shanyue for years, should have been accustomed to this.
But the Yan people before them were not only unafraid of death; their combat experience and battlefield tactics were far beyond anything the so-called Shanyue tribes could compare to.
The dismounted North Border Army was evenly matched with the predominantly infantry-based Blue Luan Army from the start. If not for the Blue Luan Army's clear numerical superiority, it would have been difficult to determine who would ultimately prevail.
Having crossed the river, the Eldest Prince knelt on a slope by the bank, watching the Yan Army corpses float down from upstream.
Li Fusheng had returned. After receiving the Eldest Prince's order to regroup the army and withdraw thirty li, he had departed again.
The Eldest Prince knelt there until nightfall. Even when some of Chu State's naval vessels sailed down from upstream, there was still no sign of Li Bao.
Finally, he slowly stood up.
He... had to live. He would become a traitor to Yan State, a disgrace to the Ji Family.
Tian Wujing's reputation among the common people wasn't good, but it was only his reputation that suffered. The Yan people valued military achievements, and they still believed in Tian Wujing's ability to win battles. Even though many in the court and among the populace had a poor impression of Tian Wujing, few would kick him when he was down. Even when Tian Wujing secluded himself in Lord Jingnan's residence in Li Tian City, refusing to accept the imperial edict, most court officials were inclined to cover for him.
Simply put, Tian Wujing knew how to fight. Having such a god of war in the country gave everyone a sense of security.
But now, he, a prince, had been defeated. Without military achievements, without victory as a foundation, his so-called title of prince would instantly become worthless, perhaps even a kind of original sin. Even his Imperial Father, who had trusted him and appointed him commander of the expedition, would be marked in the annals of history: The emperor favored his son, treating warfare as child's play, a decision that ultimately led to a great disaster.
「...」
「A few days later,」
An extremely haggard Jin Shuke knelt before Zheng Fan, reporting on the Wang River battle.
Zheng Fan sat in the seat of honor, with the other Demon Kings seated below.
Zheng Fan had been right again; he had guessed that the King of the Wild People would bring him a surprise, and the King of the Wild People had not disappointed.
In the Battle of Wang River, the main force of the Yan State's Left Army was nearly annihilated. The Wang River was littered with the bodies of Yan people.
A crushing defeat had come so suddenly.
However, Zheng Fan's face showed no sign of the smugness that might come from his "visionary" bet paying off. Instead, he seemed somewhat weary, gently rubbing his temples with his fingertips. He said slowly, "Logically, I should be happy to hear this news. But why do I feel a bit sad?"
