Chapter 553
Yue Fuguang, who was having an immersive experience petting pandas in the faraway Shangjing City, suddenly had an itchy nose and sneezed.
"Could it be that I'm allergic to panda fur?" This was already her third sneeze today! Not only was she sneezing, but her eyelid also kept twitching.
Was something going to happen?
On the side of Jishi Gorge, Huo Sui received the order and led two hundred elite soldiers on a night - time march. These two hundred men were the best field soldiers in the Yue Army. Each of them was an expert at climbing slopes and crossing gullies. Besides their swords, spears, bows and crossbows, each carried a bag containing black iron lumps.
Shen Jian stood on the city wall and watched them disappear into the night. The mountain wind was strong, making the military flags flap loudly.
On the second day of the ninth lunar month, the Dayan Army launched a frontal attack on Jishi Gorge.
Although Shen Jian verbally showed disdain, his actions were honest. He used Huo Sui's battle plan without any hesitation, first testing the mettle of this Western Qiang army.
To preserve the combat - effective strength of the Dayan Army, he immediately used catapults to launch explosives at the ambush locations of the Western Qiang troops.
The catapults were pushed by eight men in rotation, with two more to load the ammunition. Each group consisted of ten men, advancing forward while bombarding.
Behind them were the archers, and at the end were the ordinary soldiers with swords and spears.
The Dayan Army used bows, crossbows and catapults to suppress the Western Qiang Army, attacking rhythmically in waves, leaving no chance for the Western Qiang Army to catch their breath.
The canyon was filled with the rumbling of catapults all day long. When the explosives hit the stone walls, gravel flew everywhere and dust filled the air. The explosions could be clearly heard from several miles away, and the Western Qiang soldiers were extremely frightened.
Feng Yuan personally supervised the battle at the gorge entrance. He stood on the highest point of the stone wall. Arrows from the Dayan Army occasionally flew over his head. A personal guard beside him raised a shield to protect him, but he pushed it away.
"The Dayan people have a limited supply of gunpowder," he shouted to the soldiers around him. "As long as we endure this wave, we can hold on. Once we hold on, we have a chance to counter - attack!"
The morale of the Western Qiang Army was shattered by the explosives, and their courage was also shaken to pieces by the continuous rumbling sounds.
If it weren't for Feng Yuan's high prestige in the army and the fact that the defenders knew that behind them was Jincheng and they had nowhere to retreat, they would have fled long ago.
At the end of the day, the Dayan Army suffered more than a hundred casualties, while the casualties of the Western Qiang Army were incalculable. Some were directly blown to death, and some were buried in the gravel. The battlefield was a bloody mess, but fortunately, the defense line had not been completely broken.
After nightfall, Shen Jian summoned the middle - route army generals for a meeting. Dozens of candles were lit in the tent, illuminating it brightly. Shen Jian sat in the main seat, with a pot of tea in front of him. He took a sip and glanced at the generals in the tent.
"How many casualties were there today?"
"Twenty - three were killed and eighty - two were wounded," reported the deputy general.
Shen Jian nodded. This number was within his expectations. The defense of Jishi Gorge was more solid than expected. A frontal attack was indeed difficult. If it weren't for the Dayan Army having gunpowder as a powerful weapon, when faced with such a terrain that was easy to defend but difficult to attack, there would be no better way than to engage in a bitter battle and sacrifice lives.
Next, Shen Jian began to arrange the subsequent tasks. Through several attacks today, he had figured out the general situation of the Western Qiang Army. He adjusted the subsequent deployment. "Huo Sui, I order you to be the vanguard..."
"System, what did you say? Shen Jian and Huo Sui's troops are using infantry - tank coordination?" Goodness me, Yue Fuguang was truly shocked.
It was just that she had casually complained to the Yue Army generals during the last meeting. How could they implement it so quickly?
[Host, isn't this what you wanted?] The system rolled its virtual eyes. If you didn't want it, why were you complaining to me in your heart?
It remembered very clearly that its host had shouted "Little Zhu" when complaining.
Yue Fuguang coughed lightly in embarrassment. She took a sip of water and then said with a smile, "Well, I knew there were no tanks here, so I just wanted to show off a bit. Who would have thought that Huo Sui could draw inferences from one example? Hehe..."
Before Yue Fuguang's embarrassed laughter could end, the system added insult to injury. [Host, who says only Huo Sui did this? Wei Yan, Cai Bing, and even the most well - behaved Lin Huaijing have been influenced by you. He's not only the military advisor among them but also like a glutinous rice ball filled with black sesame paste.]
The system had a gloating tone. [These people regard you as their teacher, believe in you, and revere you! Aren't you happy?]
"Happy my foot!" At this moment, Fuguang finally understood the weight of the words that Patriarch Bodhi once said to Sun Wukong: "One day when you cause trouble, just don't bring me into it." And the weight was still increasing.
[Host, why do you look like you never smile? Is it a natural trait?]
Seeing that the five kingdoms were about to be unified, the system was so happy that it forgot its place. [Host, although you will leave in the future, your ideas will continue here, and your mark will be engraved throughout the future history of Dayan. Shouldn't you be happy?]
Yue Fuguang threw the pastry in her hand into the jade plate, rolled up her sleeves, and said, "System, my will already covers all the lands of Dayan. My ideas have already been integrated into the books printed by the publishing houses. Do I still need those young guys to inherit them?"
She clenched her fists. "Moreover, with those books, those factories, those technologies, those schools, and the immortal Divine Maiden Hall, the marks of my existence are so deep that even if I wanted to erase them, I couldn't!"
These things would not disappear from the long river of history even if Dayan perished and the dynasty changed one day.
"They will be remembered, improved, but never forgotten. Humph! I think you're getting carried away and need a beating!"
[Host, have you forgotten that there was an "evil - clearing" incident in your hometown? You should be on guard against such things. Those technologies, those books...]
Yue Fuguang waved her hand, interrupting the system's words that might be harmful to "unity." "I've already taken precautions against a similar situation here."
[So, are those formation - arranging materials you're going to buy from the system store for the Divine Maiden Hall?]
"Otherwise? Although I'm borrowing this body now, I can't stand the thought that one day someone will destroy my shrine and steal my statues in a place I can't see. Then they'll say in front of the Divine Maiden Hall, 'The Divine Maiden is nothing special. She can't even protect her own shrine!' With my sensitive heart, I'd be so angry that I'd die!"