Chapter 23: The Art of War

  Unexpectedly, the thing I was most worried about still happened. Zhang Zixing showed a helpless expression and ordered: "Quickly summon the army's chief physician, we must ensure that General Jiang is safe!"

  Everyone came to the camp and saw that Jiang Wenhuan was indeed seriously injured. Apart from the laceration on his face caused by Deng Ciyu, which had not yet healed, there were hundreds of deep and shallow wounds all over his body, showing how fierce the battle was. Fortunately, he had a strong physique, and the vital parts were protected by fine armor, so although he was seriously injured, he was temporarily out of danger.

  "I will die for my crime!" Jiang Wenhuan, seeing the emperor come to visit him, hastily disregarded his injuries and struggled to get up to plead guilty, but was stopped by Zhang Zixing.

  It turned out that when Jiang Wenhuan was escorting the spoils of war back, he was actually caught up by a group of strange infantry at an unbelievable speed. These infantrymen wore thick armor and masks on their faces, holding strange long knives in their hands, with incredibly high combat effectiveness. Although Jiang Wenhuan's elite cavalry were equipped with advanced weapons such as bows, crossbows, and curved swords, they still couldn't defeat the enemy. Especially the long knives in the enemy's hands, which seemed to be made of unknown materials, had cut off the Shang army's fine copper curved swords after only a few encounters. Jiang Wenhuan knew something was wrong and was about to order his men to kill the prisoners and retreat when a large group of Dongyi cavalry arrived, surrounding them on all sides. Even with his extraordinary bravery, Jiang Wenhuan couldn't break through the encirclement. The Shang army had shot out all their arrows and could only fight the enemy with broken knives in hand. Many officers were killed after wiping out several times more enemies than themselves. If it weren't for Zhang Guifang and Li Jing's rescue, Jiang Wenhuan might not have survived either. Of the thousand elite soldiers who set out, less than two hundred returned.

  After listening to Jiang Wenhuan's account of the battle, Jiang Hanchu exclaimed: "Thick armor, divine speed, long knives... This is the Witch God Army directly under the Witch King!"

  Zhang Zixing suddenly realized the severity of another matter. The failure of this raid was secondary, the key was that those weapons had fallen into the hands of the enemy. In the great victory at Dongyuan, Huang Feihu's main reason was the surprise attack and killing effect of the new weapons of the Shang army on the Eastern Yi people. Now, with Jiang Wenhuan's defeat, the crossbow, composite bow, and stirrup had all fallen into the hands of the enemy. If given time, allowing the Eastern Yi people to master the manufacturing method and usage techniques, then the Eastern Yi army, which was more skilled in riding and shooting than the Shang army, would be like a tiger with wings added, making it even harder to deal with.

  "Record the names of those martyred generals, they are all heroes of our great dynasty. Their families should be well taken care of. After the Return to the Capital song, build another magnificent mausoleum in the eastern suburbs. From now on, all the spirits of the martyrs who have sacrificed for our great dynasty will be enshrined within, for future generations to pay their respects!" Zhang Zixing did not immediately rebuke Jiang Wenhuan, but instead issued this decree. Zhang Zixing's move was not intentionally trying to buy people's hearts, but rather felt that he should give those martyred heroes the most basic explanation.

  Jiang Hanchu saw that his son had no worries about his life, and he let out a sigh of relief - as long as he could retreat safely, the loss of a few hundred men was nothing, and this time's raid was still considered successful, so his son should not receive any punishment. But when the emperor mentioned the severity of losing those weapons to the enemy, Jiang Hanchu's heart sank again.

  Jiang Wenhuan only then understood the severity of his failure's consequences, and with a heart full of regret, he made no excuses, but instead begged the Emperor to grant him death. Jiang Hanchu, who had only this one son, immediately knelt down and pleaded with Zhang Zixing to spare his life.

  The generals also knelt down to plead, and the words were nothing but "it's not that our army is incompetent, but the enemy is too cunning". Zhang Zixing also knew that this time it was not entirely Jiang Wenhuan's fault, but military law is like a mountain, and cannot be lightly forgiven. He removed Jiang Wenhuan from his position as Rear Army Commander, gave him 50 military rods, and waited for his injuries to heal before leading the punishment.

  Jiang Huan Chu knew that the Son of Heaven had spared his life, and he hastily thanked him. At this time, Feng Lin came to report that scouts had discovered that the Eastern Yi army was reassembling and camping fifty miles outside of Kan City.

  Zhang Zixing's eyes flashed with a sharp light: "They are arrogant and fearless, wanting to compete with us again. Hmph! I'd like to see what the Divine Witch Army is capable of! Feng Lin, go deliver the declaration of war to the Eastern Barbarians, I will personally take the field tomorrow and meet that Shaman King!"

  In the great camp of Dongyi, the original position of leader had been yielded by Wang Qingjie to an old man wearing a green long gown. Wang Qingjie and Yuemei could only be ranked below him. The old man was carefully examining the stirrups and crossbows on the table, which were obtained from the enemy at great cost.

  "This black bow is unknown how it was made, and its power is astonishing..." The old man stroked the surface of the composite bow, feeling puzzled about its materials and craftsmanship. His eyes turned to the triple crossbow: "And this strange crossbow structure is extremely complex, I don't know how to load the arrows? Unfortunately, we didn't capture any alive this time, those merchants were too brave, they would rather die than surrender."

  Tsukihime bowed and asked: "Shinto Priest, with your abilities, you can't even see the profundity of this?"

  The old man was the spiritual leader of the Dongyi - Wuji. Facing the question of Princess Yue, he shook his head and showed a helpless expression: "Those instruments taken from the Shang army's war horses are obviously used to control horses. If our army can master these instruments, even the best horsemen in the world, the Quanrong, will have to surrender. And those two types of crossbows are mysterious in their craftsmanship. Although I've been studying instrument-making for many years, I still can't understand the secrets behind them at the moment. Today's defeat is all because of these three treasures. I don't know which divine craftsman created these three treasures, but they are indeed ingenious and cleverly made. If the Great Shang has such talent, our Dongyi may be in great danger soon..."

  Cang Jie was somewhat skeptical: "Wu Ji, sir! Since these three treasures are powerful, but have already fallen into our hands, although the bow and crossbow are more complex, with time, our army may not be unable to imitate them. At that time, my Dong Yi will sweep across the world and enter the Central Plains!"

  "Hmph! Does Tsang Ki not understand the meaning of the Witch Queen yet?" The Moon Goddess Queen had never been fond of Tsang Ki: "If that divine craftsman can create such three treasures, who's to say he won't create even more terrifying weapons for the great merchant in the future? In my opinion, there must still be many secrets within the Great Merchant Army at present. This time, invading the East will surely be fraught with danger..."

  Cang Jie was left speechless by her words, and Wu Ji Wang also looked worried: "My Dong Yi has been at odds with the Great Shang for generations. Although we have won many battles in the past, the bravery of the Shang army has made it impossible for us to take a step further into Eastern Lu. And the new king of the Great Shang is a rare talent, famous for his three extraordinary books that shake the world, and the national strength is also growing stronger day by day. This time he personally led the expedition to the east, I'm afraid he has come with confidence, intending to conquer my Dong Yi to intimidate the four directions."

  "The Shang army not only broke through our lines with their bows in the east, causing heavy casualties among my elite cavalry, but they also launched a surprise attack on our rear. If it weren't for the timely arrival of the Wu Zhi's divine troops, I fear that our soldiers' morale would have been severely damaged and we wouldn't be able to face the Shang army again." The Moon Princess's face showed admiration: "I didn't think that King Shang had such tactics, he is truly a master of both literature and martial arts."

  The Eastern Barbarian people valued heroes the most, and King Cang Jie, although he didn't say it out loud, secretly agreed with King Yue Ji's words. He paid his respects to King Wu Ji and said: "King Wu Ji, the enemy is strong and has brought divine weapons, relying solely on the Wu Shen army will be difficult to win... I, Cang Jie, dare to suggest that tomorrow on the battlefield, you use a forbidden technique to annihilate the enemy..."

  The Witch King heard the two words "Forbidden Law", his body slightly shook, and he remained silent. At this time, a report came from outside the tent: "The Shang Military Envoy Feng Lin requests an audience!"

  Feng Lin followed the messenger soldier all the way into the main camp of the Dongyi army, looking at the Dongyi generals on both sides holding weapons and exuding a murderous aura, secretly sneering, with no fear on his face.

  "Grand Envoy, Vanguard of the Eastern Expedition, Feng Lin has seen the Great King." Feng Lin nodded slightly towards Wu Ji, who was sitting in the center, as a form of greeting, and intentionally emphasized the words "Eastern Expedition".

  "How dare you be so rude!" The bold General Wang Cun's words cut down the enemy's morale, and the Eastern Yi generals on both sides drew out their long swords with a "clang".

  Feng Lin's expression didn't change, seemingly oblivious to the danger around him. Suddenly, a box appeared in his hands: "This is the war letter of our dynasty's emperor, please take a look, Your Majesty."

  The witch king handed it over to the military officer, who opened the box and found a thin paper inside with only one word written on it in bold and powerful strokes: "War!"

  Beside him, General Wang and other generals did not expect that the war book of the Shang king would be just one word. After a brief moment of stunned silence, they clenched their fists, with fierce determination burning in their eyes. This simple word contained many meanings, and the more true warriors understood its connotation:

  Do you dare to fight?

  If we must fight, why bother with so many words!

  Time and place, you choose, I'll take care of the fight!

  ……

  "What a great merchant king! What vigor!" The old eyes of the Witch King also shone brightly, and with a light stroke of his right hand, the temperature inside the tent suddenly rose sharply, without any visible flames, and the paper was instantly reduced to ashes: "You, messenger, go back and report that tomorrow I, the Witch King, will personally lead the great army to compete with the merchant king!"

  As for the magic that Wu Jifu deliberately showed, Feng Lin was not moved at all. He nodded his head and turned to leave. Just as Feng Lin rode his horse away from the Dongyi camp, a burly man suddenly led dozens of people to kill him, blocking his way.

  "Wuna Shang, I am Wu Lu, the great general of the poor country. Today, my brother Wuzamu was killed by Huang Feihu in front of the array. I will take your head as the vanguard to avenge this revenge!"

  Feng Lin sized up Wu Lou for a moment, then revealed a faintly disdainful smile. Without saying a word, he shook the reins and charged forward. Wu Lou saw his opponent's contempt and became enraged. He swung his great axe and rushed to meet Feng Lin. Suddenly, Feng Lin opened his mouth and a jet of black smoke shot out. In the midst of the smoke, a red bead the size of a bowl appeared, striking Wu Lou right in the face. Wu Lou let out a loud cry and fell off his horse, clearly severely injured. Feng Lin rushed up to him and struck him down with his wolf-toothed club, ending his life.

  Those little soldiers saw that Lin was so fierce, and as soon as the main general fell off his horse and died, who dared to rush up again to send themselves to death, watching him gallop away with their eyes wide open.

  To be honest, I took advantage of overtime today to secretly use Photoshop on my work computer for half a day and came up with a cover that I thought was passable. Then I uploaded it. Who knew that when I got home, my wife criticized it mercilessly and strongly despised my aesthetic sense. My wife loudly said "Look at my greatness", and replaced the cover from the computer... When I came back after work, I saw that she had already changed the cover, and indeed it was much better than the previous one. I could only take out all the positive words and offer them to her in a long-winded manner, but suddenly I felt a bit like a loser...