Invincible Iron Army 41, Borrowing Arrows with a Book Flag

  Dulin gazed longingly at Liu Jiao and said, "Our arrows are almost exhausted. Can you allocate some to us?" Liu Jiao looked embarrassed and replied, "All the arrows have already been distributed. I don't have any extra arrows here." Dulin said, "But without arrows, how can we fight against the Xiongnu? Our entire city wall defense will be in danger." Liu Jiao said, "I'm also helpless about this."

  Dulin had not left yet, when Wang Xueli arrived. He said to Liu Jiao: "General, our arrows are all gone, we must get more arrows as soon as possible, otherwise we will be in danger." Liu Jiao's face suddenly became worried, thinking that two sides of the city wall were short of arrows.

  At this time, Qian Xuegui also walked in and said to Liu Jiao: "Jiedushi, quickly give us arrows. Our army has no more arrows. If the Huns launch an attack now, it will be difficult for us to hold on to Yuyang City." Liu Jiao immediately said: "But I don't have any arrows here. The entire garrison of Yuyang is short of arrows on three sides of the city wall. The situation is indeed very critical. If Wang An also lacks arrows, we will be in even greater danger." Du Lin said: "Jiedushi, since Wang An has not sent a distress signal to you, he must have a surplus. Can we go to Wang An's place to borrow some arrows?" Liu Jiao had no other choice and the three jiedushis headed towards the south city.

  Here is the translation:

  Liu Jiao found Wang An when they were having hot pot, Wang An, Jiang Cai, Du Lu, Zhang Wan, and Li Li were all enjoying their meal together. They rarely had a leisurely time, so they ate while chatting. Jiang Cai said, "Time flies, it's already winter." Du Lu said, "Brother Wang, the person I admire most is you." Wang An said with a smug expression, "This can be explained in detail."

  Du Lu said, "Brother, you are truly a villain, even the Jiedushi dares to tease you, and you dare to sell the Jiedushi. It's really admirable." Wang An said, "You all misunderstand me, I'm actually a gentleman." Jiang Cai spat out his wine and said, "Brother Wang, we've seen your deeds, when can you turn the Jiedushi into a cooked rice? Brother, I'll admire you then."

  At this time, a soldier came in to report, "Reporting to the lord, there's someone outside who wants to see you." Wang An was in high spirits and immediately said, "Let him wait." Before he finished speaking, Liu Jiao burst in and said to Wang An, "You're really arrogant, daring to make me wait."

  Wang An quickly put on a smiling face and said, "How dare I? We're busy." Liu Jiao curiously asked, "What are you busy with?" Wang An said, "Cooking rice... no, not that. We're discussing how to defeat the Huns." When he mentioned cooking rice, Jiang Cai and others opened their mouths wide, thinking that Brother Wang was really bold, daring to discuss this topic in front of the Jiedushi.

  Liu Jiao got straight to the point and said, "I came to see if you have any spare arrows here." Wang An said, "Jiedushi, don't you remember? You didn't give us military pay or equipment. These soldiers' weapons are all self-equipped, where would we get arrows from?" Liu Jiao knew that Wang An was telling the truth and asked, "Will these civilian soldiers have arrows at home?"

  Wang An looked at Liu Jiao in surprise and said, "Jiao, you're confused. Our soldiers here don't even know how to use a bow. Look at that one, he's from a butcher family, his long-range attack weapon is just a brick... look at that one, he's from a hunting family but doesn't know how to shoot arrows, only knows how to throw spears... and look at that one, all he can do is eat, he's useless..."

  Jiang Cai looked on with an open mouth, thinking that they had over 10,000 people here, did Wang An want to introduce each of them to the Jiedushi? Liu Jiao started crying, she was a girl who had taken on too much responsibility. She squatted on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably and saying, "I don't care, I want arrows, I just want arrows." Her shoulders kept shaking as she cried.

  A woman showed her weak side in front of her loved ones.

  She burst into tears, instantly rendering several bodyguards and Wang An at a loss for what to do. Wang An hastily coaxed her, "Don't cry, or you won't be pretty anymore." Liu Jiao didn't respond to Wang An, so Jiang Cai had to say, "Jiao don't cry, okay? Big brother will buy you cotton candy." Liu Jiao continued to sob, wanting to fully vent the heavy burden and pressure she had endured over the past few days. If she couldn't vent it out, she might go crazy.

  Wang An said, "Don't cry, there are handsome men everywhere, and all the ones flying in the sky are handsome men." Jiang Cai took a glance and thought to himself that they were just crows. Liu Jiao Jiao ignored Wang An's nonsense and Du Lu said, "Jiao Jiao, don't cry, we'll immediately have the craftsmen inside the city make arrows." Du Lin sighed and said, "It's useless, the city is lacking in iron, wood, and feathers, we can't make that many arrows." Liu Jiao Jiao seemed like a spoiled child, saying "I want arrows, I must have arrows." Wang An said, "Don't cry, I'll give you arrows," "Really?" Liu Jiao Jiao immediately jumped up and grabbed onto Wang An's sleeve, her bright eyes staring at him without blinking. Wang An revealed a smile that was even uglier than crying and said, "Of course it's real, when have I ever lied to you?" Liu Jiao Jiao thought to herself, "You've lied to me plenty of times." Liu Jiao Jiao said, "Great, with arrows we can defend Yu Yang City. But you're not allowed to lie to me, you need to know the consequences of lying to me are severe. Recently, the palace has been recruiting young and talented individuals, a large number of disabled but ambitious youths have signed up, hoping to join this place with prospects for development. Do you want to join?" Wang An immediately said, "I'm not interested in that, you can ask Du Gong, he's supposedly very interested." Du Lin hastily waved his hand and said, "I'm not interested at all!" Du Lin was truly afraid.

  Sun Zhicheng said: "Wang An, in the army there is no joking, if you casually speak nonsense and delay military affairs, you will definitely be beheaded." Du Ling also said: "Wang An, you must do what you say, deceiving others will get your head chopped off." Jiang Cai thought to himself: "This is truly a hot potato." Du Lu thought to himself: "Where did we come from with arrows? You are the Jiedushi and Fangyu Shi, even you can't manage it, yet you let the Bai Fu Zhang take charge of arranging for arrows, is this reasonable?"

  Liu Jiao said to Wang An, "Wang An, if you can really get the arrows, I can give you money, I can give you military rations and equipment, and I can also let you go to the brothel." Wang An said, "Don't mention money, talking about money hurts feelings." Du Lin thought in his heart, "This is not the real Wang An. With Wang An's despicable character, he will definitely extort us once." Wang An said, "I'll get these arrows for you, but you have to give me some cost money. How about we sell them to you at 10 arrows for one or two silver coins?" Liu Jiao said, "Okay, no problem. By the way, I can also let you go to the brothel. Isn't that your greatest wish?" Wang An said, "I am a gentleman, how could I go to such a place?" Du Lin, Sun Zhicheng, Wang Xueli, Zhao Xiangqian, and Qian Xuegui all said in unison, "Don't tell lies, telling lies will get you struck by lightning."

  Du Lin said to Wang An, "Wang sir, our military situation is extremely urgent. We hope you can speed up the production of these arrows." Liu Jiao also eagerly said to Wang An, "I know you have your own difficulties, and producing arrows requires a lot of time. Can you produce 500,000 arrows within ten days?" After saying this, Liu Jiao himself felt that he was being too demanding. To be sure, the military arsenal in Chang'an produced only one million arrows per year. Asking Wang An to produce 500,000 arrows in just ten days was indeed a tall order. So he said again, "How about half a month? If that's still too rushed, how about a month?" Liu Jiao knew he was being overbearing and thought to himself, "Wang An must have agreed to help because of our relationship, but I'm constantly making things difficult for him. Am I being too excessive?"

  Du Lin didn't care about these concerns and only said, "Commander, the military situation is urgent and can't be delayed! The Xiongnu outside are attacking every day, and we're under tremendous pressure. The deadline for the arrows cannot be extended again!" Liu Jiao angrily said to him, "I know." Wang An said, "Since the situation is so tense, then let's do it in ten days." "Ten days," everyone repeated, and Liu Jiao also said with some concern, "Are you sure?" Wang An said, "Of course. I'm Wang An, and my word is always good." Jiang Cai repeatedly reminded Wang An, "Wang brother, don't be impulsive!" Wang An said, "I know your military situation is urgent. How about this? Today, I'll give you 200,000 arrows to take away." Liu Jiao and the various commanders were shocked, thinking to themselves, "You're going to have all the craftsmen in the city produce arrows, and you can still complete it in such a short time?"

  Liu Jiao and others showed a look of disbelief, Du Lin said disdainfully: "I can also brag", Liu Jiao said: "Wang An, don't talk big". Sun Zhicheng, Wang Xueli, Qian Xuegui, Zhao Xiangqian all looked skeptical, Wang An said: "You are now preparing to transport these arrows, I will prepare them immediately". Wang Xueli thought to himself that he was getting more and more arrogant, and he wanted to see how he would get out of this situation. Du Lin said: "Good, we not only have the manpower ready but also the money, as long as you have the arrows, we will give you the money". Wang An nodded and said: "Good, General, may I borrow your flag for a use?" Liu Jiao nodded, and immediately ordered someone to bring her own flag and hand it over to Wang An.

  After Liu Jiao's large flag was brought over, Wang An immediately ordered: "You select a soldier, put on heavy armor, and take this large flag to walk on the city wall." A soldier took orders and left. Liu Jiao, Du Lin, Wang Xueli, Qian Xuegui, and Sun Zhicheng thought to themselves: What kind of medicine is Wang An selling in his gourd?

  When the commander-in-chief's banner was walking in the south city, it startled the Xiongnu Khan, and now the Xiongnu Khan has assembled 200,000 troops to attack here, while the Righteous King is responsible for attacking other places. The last time Wang An suddenly attacked, he indeed frightened the Xiongnu Righteous King. The Xiongnu Khan naturally recognized that this was the commander-in-chief's banner, and immediately ordered his soldiers: "This is Liu Jiao Jiao's command flag, she must be under this flag, you attack immediately and try to take her down." As soon as the Xiongnu soldiers heard the name Liu Jiao Jiao, they rushed forward in a hurry, shooting arrows like raindrops constantly into the city. The soldier holding the banner was...

  ；

  －－－－－－－－－－－－－

  －－－－－－－－－－－－－