Chapter Thirteen: The War is Coming
As the saying goes, "the world's great trend, unity must divide, division must unite." After spending several days as a book boy in Yangfu, news of war came from Huadu, the capital of the southern country. The first great power of the Qiankun continent, Dashu Guo, suddenly gathered 600,000 troops and launched a three-pronged attack on the second great power, Chugu Guo, with no warning signs. The army's marching speed was extremely fast, as expected, and would arrive at the border of Chugu in ten days.
At the same time, the Emperor of Chu received a secret report from an undercover agent on the next day and immediately summoned his ministers and generals to discuss countermeasures overnight. In the end, it was decided to mobilize troops nationwide and deploy 100,000 imperial guards from the capital, along with 250,000 soldiers drawn from various places, led by General Mu Tang, the old marshal of the Northern Expedition. Three days later, the soldiers gathered from all over reached 330,000, led by the Emperor's younger brother, Prince Chu Hen Li, and assisted by several deputy generals, while the military strategist was the current national teacher Zhuge Yuan, who was known for his cleverness and cunning, making him difficult to defend against.
Two countries are at war, and some of their affiliated nations around them are also secretly mobilizing. Among the affiliated nations of Great Shu, there are four countries with slightly stronger forces. Ranked by military strength, they are: Wei State in the south, with 200,000 infantrymen and 50,000 cavalrymen; Si State, with 170,000 infantrymen and 20,000 cavalrymen; Da Liang in the east, with 150,000 infantrymen and 20,000 cavalrymen; and Chen State in the north, with 100,000 infantrymen and 20,000 cavalrymen. The total military strength of these four countries is also a staggering number. When Great Shu sends troops, as smaller brothers they cannot just stand by and watch, but they do not dare to directly send troops to Chu State, so they can only set their sights on the affiliated nations of Chu State.
Sina is a small country, a vassal state of Chu. The whole country has only seven cities, with a total military strength of less than 40,000, no cavalry, because it is located in Jiangnan, war horses are scarce, only the royal guard, with a few cavalry, but also only one thousand people, really can't be counted as a force to be reckoned with. Sina borders Zhao, which is also a vassal state of Chu and has a relatively strong influence, with a total military strength of 2 million, including 300,000 cavalry, the rest are infantry. At the same time that Chu sent troops, Zhao also gathered 1.5 million people, including all the cavalry, to prepare for war.
When the news reached Nanguo, it was already three days later. Early in the morning, the Emperor of Nanguo summoned his ministers to the grand hall to discuss strategies for defending against the enemy. Although the war had not yet spread to this place, Nanguo was a small country after all, and being invaded was only a matter of time. The ministers expressed their opinions one after another, but they couldn't come up with a better plan for the time being. After the court meeting, Yang Ziting rushed back to his post in the south on horseback that very night.
Yang Mansion...
The hall was extremely quiet...
Yang Ziting sat in the first place, with his wife sitting next to him. His eldest son was on duty in Huadu and was not present, so he was not listed. Sitting below them were his daughter Yang Wenqin and youngest son Yang Wenguan. At this time, all the servants and maids in the house were divided into several rows, standing in front of the hall. Yun Qi stood among the servants, also feeling strange. Originally, he was still in the courtyard teaching Yang Wenqin and Yang Wenguan to practice Wing Chun. Suddenly, Cui Hong rushed into the courtyard saying that Master had called everyone to the front hall. Yun Qi didn't understand, thinking to himself: Could this be a collective salary payment?
Yang Ziting swept his gaze over the crowd, his tone somewhat heavy as he said: "We're going to war. This morning at dawn, His Majesty summoned us to discuss military affairs, and the situation is not optimistic. Today I've gathered everyone from the manor here also to discuss a way out, so that when the flames of war spread here, you won't have to panic."
Yang Wenguan, full of youthful vigor, stood up and said: "Father! The enemy is invading, we are the fine young men of the southern country, how can we just sit back and do nothing."
Although this young master spoke out of turn, the air in his heart made Yun Qi secretly nod in agreement. One step at a time, for special forces in later generations, war is not unfamiliar. Not to mention the frequent missions, in 2008, the Wolf Special Forces were dispatched to Baghdad, which was in the midst of war, and stayed with special forces from various countries for as long as 144 days.
However, he also knew that ancient wars and modern high-tech wars are very different. In ancient times, it was often swords and knives, and a single battle involving tens of thousands of people would result in casualties accounting for half of the number. In contrast, modern warfare can be won with a small special forces team, and the US military's losses after an entire battle were only over 10,000 people.
This is the result of years of large and small battles, totaling thousands of fights, and the loss of over 10,000 people in this era may be equivalent to the losses of just one siege battle.
Yang Ziting shouted at Yang Wenguan, then said: "Today, I will inform everyone about this matter, and there is no other meaning. In my heart, there is a plan. In the past, I was fortunate to receive a great favor from the emperor and obtained a fiefdom in a remote location, which is also hidden. If that day really comes, we can move here." The war has not officially broken out yet, and the military strength of both sides has exceeded one million. Although the battle line is very long, if it reaches the southern country, it will probably take half a year. What to do during this half-year period is what Yang Ziting gathered everyone in the mansion to discuss today.
When this grand family meeting was over, it had already passed the time for dinner. Yun Qi, who was hungry, lay on the bed in the small house with a listless face. He should have eaten at this time, why didn't he go to eat, but instead crawled here and starved? As for Yun Qi's heart, he was also very unhappy: You hold a meeting, just hold a meeting, why do you need to summon even the cooks in the house? You are the master of the family, whether it is walking or staying, your word is final. When the time comes, you give an order and we follow, why make such a fuss.
Yang Wenguan and Yang Wenjin had just eaten and rested for a while, and were already practicing Wing Chun in the courtyard on their own.
Yang Wenguan didn't care about anything, and instead had a growing excitement for the impending war. However, Yang Wenjin's thoughts were more delicate, thinking that after the war, the people would be miserable, and who knows how many refugees would have to leave their homes again.
Finally full after eating, Yun Qi suddenly felt an endless supply of energy, and habitually wanted to smoke, but suddenly remembered that he had brought a pack of cigarettes when he crossed over, along with the lighter, which were all confiscated. Feeling anxious, he thought it would be better to go ask that little girl, after all, he was considered a master level.
"Miss... miss...... Please stop for a moment, I have something to ask of you."
The sound had already come over before the person entered the courtyard. By the time they stepped into the courtyard, the two of them had been practicing for a long time and were now sitting in front of the stone table being served tea by Yinger Hong.
That's just right, and it saves waiting. Yun Qi walked up to Yang Wenjing and said respectfully: "Miss, I have something to ask of you."
Yang Wenjin heard Yun Qi's voice from afar and asked: "What's wrong? You're in such a hurry, just say it."
"Hmm. It's like this, when I first came to this place, I had something with me that was very important to me." As he spoke, Yun Qi thought about what excuse would be best.
"Oh? What is important to you? Why is it important?" Yang Wenjin asked.
"After a moment's thought, an idea suddenly occurred to him and he said: 'It's like this, miss. I've had a strange illness since childhood, every evening my whole body aches. If I don't take medicine to suppress it for a period of time, I'll bleed from all seven orifices and die.'"
"What you're saying is terrifying, how can there be such a strange illness?" Yang Wenjing had also read extensively since childhood and had never heard of such a strange illness. At this point, she was somewhat skeptical, but the clever second miss, connecting what Yunqi said earlier, seemed to understand a bit more and asked: "You said you want something from me, is it to suppress the strange illness you mentioned?"
He pretended to be ill, with a pained expression on his face, and even squeezed out tears mixed with saliva, making people think he was suffering from opium addiction. In the eyes of people in this era, he seemed to be seriously ill and needed urgent medical attention.
"Yes, Miss is clever. I'm ill now and urgently need medicine to suppress it." Yun Qi put on a pitiful look, if the brothers of later generations saw this, they would definitely burst out laughing again.
Yang Wenjin thought for a moment and said: "Alright, considering you often teach my siblings gymnastics, tell me what this thing is and I'll have someone send it over to you."
Yun Qi roughly described the appearance of cigarettes and lighters, then eagerly saw Cui Hong off into the distance.
