Chapter 26: The Battle of Fenglingdu (Part 2)

  "General Bian, why haven't you given the order to attack yet?" Tianyi couldn't help but ask curiously as he looked at General Bian standing calmly in the formation, while Suo Ham's vanguard had already clashed with Dugu Qiming's troops and behind them, more and more Mandan soldiers were pouring in.

  "Report to the mistress, the enemy forces currently crossing the river are not numerous. If we close in now, at most we can inflict casualties of over ten thousand on them, but the remaining enemy forces will still be formidable. Moreover, our soldiers have just been formed and what they need most is the tempering of blood and fire. Only through this way can they mature more quickly."

  "Tian Yi smiled slightly: 'General Bian, you don't need to address me like that. Since General is my elder brother's sworn brother, he is naturally also Tian Yi's older brother. In a private setting like this, General can just call me by my name.'"

  Although she was deeply moved in her heart, her face remained calm and expressionless as she said, "I dare not. As the mistress, I should receive the respect that is due to me."

  Tianyi said indifferently: "General, isn't this looking down on Tianyi? I haven't consummated my marriage with the master yet, so I'm not considered the mistress. General, you're a straightforward and upright man on the battlefield, why are you being so rigid about formalities?"

  Bian Zhongxing hesitated for a moment before finally nodding his head. However, in his heart, he couldn't help but feel a sense of envy. Although Hao Tian had many talented subordinates, his greatest happiness was probably having Tian Yi as an unmarried wife. With Tian Yi's help, Hao Tian didn't need to think too much about anything he did.

  On the south bank of the ferry, the two armies finally clashed together. At this critical moment of life and death, the Heshuo soldiers also put down their fears and fought with the enemy without hesitation. Although Soham's iron-clad heavy cavalry was valiant, they made little progress against the defensive formation set up by Bian Zhongxin himself. On the other hand, Dugu Yuming's dragon spear continued to inflict great damage on the enemy.

  Seeing Soham's army stuck near the ferry, Yelü Chih-yuan's face also became increasingly ugly. The command flag was raised, and Mandan's two 10,000-man teams, which had been prepared in advance, marched to the south bank with neat steps. And fighting alongside them was a 10,000-man team under Heji Mu'er.

  Byou Shin'ya's pale face finally managed to muster a faint smile, and he knew that the enemy would definitely send reinforcements. Raising his remaining right hand, Byou Shin'ya simply said one word: "Release!"

  The soldiers standing beside the catapult were obviously impatient, seeing their comrades fighting desperately in front of them while they had nothing to do. Hearing Bian Zhongxing's faint command, everyone's spirit was suddenly shaken, and then accompanied by the creaking sound of the catapult, countless wooden barrels flew out and smashed onto the ice surface of the river, shattering into powder.

  "What is that thing?" On the north bank of the ferry, Yelü Chishui asked with a puzzled expression, while Heshang Haasan and Heqimul also shook their heads, clearly not knowing what kind of trickery or conspiracy the other was up to.

  Yelü Chishui and others did not know what it was, but it does not mean that the two Wanfu Langs, Kuoye and Yebixi, who were reinforcing Mandan, did not know. As soon as their troops arrived at the riverbank, countless wooden barrels suddenly fell from the sky, smashing onto the ice surface, and a strange black oily substance flowed out of the barrels. Upon smelling the familiar smell, Kuoye's face changed instantly, while Yebixi's face was also abnormally pale. Fire oil!

  "Retreat, fall back, quickly!" Koyare shouted loudly, while the soldiers beside him obviously didn't understand what was going on and stood there in a daze.

  "That's fire oil! Retreat quickly, or it will be too late!" Yong Bi Xin also shouted loudly. As soon as this was said, the surrounding old soldiers finally came to their senses and, without regard for formation, turned around and ran towards the north shore. Those who had been in the military for a long time were naturally not unfamiliar with fire oil. Fire oil is a specialty of the northwest region of the Qingfeng Empire, and it is also produced in Jizhou and Shizhou in Hetuo. Its biggest characteristic is that it is highly flammable, and it can still burn on water. In the past, the people of the northwest region liked to use this thing for lighting lamps. When they were fighting and raiding camps, they also liked to use fire oil instead of tung oil to set fires.

  Now, Koyare finally understood why the other side had laid out such a layer of flammable materials on the river. They were indeed using fire attacks, but they didn't plan to use these straws and branches for the fire attack. Instead, they hoped to use these things to block the flow of oil everywhere, so as to exert the greatest attacking power of the oil.

  Although the three battalions now on the river are less than half, under this undisciplined retreat, the river is still in chaos. However, before they could run a few steps, countless rockets had fallen from the sky, and with a loud roar, the entire river ice surface suddenly burst into flames. Except for some quick-witted soldiers, tens of thousands of soldiers were trapped in the fire.

  "Brothers, their support has been cut off, kill!" Dugu Yueming took the opportunity to shout. Seeing this scene, the morale of Soham's 20,000 troops suddenly fell, while the Hetao soldiers were invigorated, relying on their superior military strength, and instantly surrounded the opponent's 20,000 soldiers in a circle.

  The river below has now become a sea of fire, with countless mournful cries constantly coming from inside. These cries were exceptionally comforting to the ears of the soldiers in the river valley, but for Yelü Chihuan and Heji Mu'er, both were extremely heart-wrenching. They knew the power of the oil, which was difficult to shake off once it came into contact with something, and could still burn even on the surface of the water. The tens of thousands of soldiers above the river and the 20,000 cavalrymen on the south bank seemed to be unable to escape.

  Among the Mongolian soldiers, there were also clever people. Seeing the raging fire in the sky, they had no choice but to escape. Without hesitation, they used their weapons to continuously strike the ice surface beneath their feet and then quickly removed their armor and dove into the water. However, they forgot that the current water temperature was abnormally cold. In just a short while, all the soldiers who were soaking in the water froze to death. Faced with this situation, Yelü Dashi was heartbroken but had no choice but to retreat. Without sufficient troops or perfect logistics, facing an army that was well-prepared and not weak, Yelü Dashi knew that he had no chance of setting foot on the land of Hexi this winter.

  "Tell the Mandal soldiers that they have no way out and let them surrender immediately." Haotian said lightly. From a personal emotional point of view, he naturally hoped to annihilate all 20,000 cavalrymen, but from a rational point of view, he hoped to use these cavalrymen in exchange for the people of Hebei who were kidnapped on the three routes.

  Dugu Yueming faithfully carried out his orders, but these soldiers were indeed the most elite troops of Mandan, even if they were surrounded and knew they would die, they still refused to surrender. In response, Haotian just sighed and waved his hand, letting Dugu do his best to satisfy the other party's demands.

  As he watched this scene, a storm of changes flashed through Ruo Xiang's eyes, and no one knew what this gloomy old man was thinking.

  "Your Excellency, General Blood Kill and his men are ready." Xuanji stepped forward to remind him, looking at the silent Huang Tian.

  "Well, since everything is ready, let's set off." Haotian nodded and said.

  Luo Xiang suddenly interjected: "Your Excellency, since the army is going on a distant expedition, why don't you let me go in your place to see them off?"

  Hao Tian was slightly surprised, but he didn't say anything. He just nodded: "That's good too, then I'll have to trouble you, sir."

  Just near the ferry, Lu Xiang saw the 800,000 cavalrymen who were ready to set off and Feng Jing, one of the marshals. Because they were going on a long-distance expedition, all 800,000 cavalrymen had changed into light cavalry uniforms; even Feng Jing only wore a soft leather jacket over his fur coat.

  "Mr. Luo, I wonder what brings you here? Is it a new order from the master?" Feng Jing couldn't help but ask curiously as he saw Luo Xiang approaching from afar. They had always been particularly respectful towards Luo Xiang.

  Lu Xiang shook his head: "The master is letting me come to see you off. Where are Blood Kill and Xin Ke?"

  Feng Jing smiled and said, "Xue Sha is over there checking the supplies we brought with us, while Xin Ke is on the other side sharpening his battle axe. I think his axe is already sharp enough, I don't know what else he's sharpening."

  Luo Xiang nodded nonchalantly and took a few slow steps forward before saying, "Feng Jing, what do you think is the most important factor in determining the outcome of war and the prosperity of a nation?"

  With a reverent expression, he was stunned for a moment before saying: "I am ignorant, please enlighten me, sir."

  Luo Xiang smiled and looked at Feng Jing, after a long time he said: "It's human. Do you know why the three northeastern countries slaughtered the local people and took them back to their country as slaves after occupying the 16 states of Youyun?"

  Feng Jing nodded: "I understand. Although the three northeastern countries have a population of millions, they are still far inferior to our Divine State. Just in the 16 states of Youyun, there are no less than 300 million people. They temporarily occupied this place, but they didn't have enough population to occupy and rule here, so they simply slaughtered all the people here and then relocated immigrants from their own country. As for abducting strong men back to their country, it should be to serve as laborers."

  He nodded, but immediately shook his head: "You can think of this level, it's already very good, but some deep-seated reasons you haven't understood yet. Population is the most fundamental factor in creating wealth, they chose to slaughter because they didn't have a firm grasp on permanent rule here, other reasons you'll understand later. As for them abducting strong men back to their country, it's to fill the labor gap."

  "Sir, could you please be clearer?"

  Luo Xiang asked in return: "Feng Jing, you have also been in the military for a long time. Let me ask you, under normal circumstances, what is the proportion of soldiers to population in a country?"

  He bowed his head in thought for a moment before saying, "Generally speaking, among nomadic tribes, there is one soldier for every three to four people. So, the Northwestern Three Tribes, such as the Iron Eagle Tribe, although they have a population of only 14 million, they have an army of 4 million. However, their military strength is clearly affected by the climate, and it's a case of all citizens being soldiers. As for us agricultural tribes, this ratio should be around 80 to 100 to one."

  Luo Xiang nodded slightly, somewhat comforted: "Not bad, under normal circumstances, the proportion of soldiers in an agricultural civilization is like this. Taking Qingfeng's 1.4 billion population as an example, excluding the three major families, the regular army would be around 110 million, including the navy. Moreover, the more developed an agricultural civilization and commercial civilization are, the lower their soldier ratio will be. However, during wartime, this ratio can reach as high as 20:1 or even 10:1. Feng Jing, calculate for me, among the three northeastern countries, the most populous Mandan Dynasty has a population of only 160 million, what should their military strength be?"

  Feng Jing was somewhat perplexed, but still said honestly: "It should be around 200,000. However, the actual number of their troops should be 800,000."

  Luo Xiang continued, "Right, eight hundred thousand. When they invaded Hebei in three routes, their army was only six hundred thousand, why did the number of troops increase by two hundred thousand in such a short period of time? Have you ever thought about it?"

  Feng Jing shook his head: "The young man does not understand."

  "That's because they abducted tens of millions of people from Zhongzhou back to their country as slaves. With this free labor force, countless men in their country can be freed from labor and fully devoted to the military. With these tens of millions of slaves, they can increase countless wealth."

  Lu Xiang said gloomily: "Population, civilians, this is the foundation of a regime's survival. Why doesn't the imperial court dare to set foot in Hebei Sanlu? It's because Hebei Sanlu has less than 50 million people left, and they are all old, weak, women and children. The imperial court can't get replenishment of manpower and resources, nor does it have a foundation for ruling its native land."

  "The reason why our lord was able to recover the Hetao region with just one thousand cavalrymen at first, and now has an army of over 200,000, is because the six states in Hetao still have 60 million people. Because of the existence of these 60 million people, although our conditions are extremely harsh, we can still take root here smoothly."

  Although Feng Jing had a vague idea of what Lü Xiang was going to say, he still asked: "Sir, please enlighten me."

  Luo Xiang's eyes suddenly flashed with a cold light: "My point is, the reason why the Mandan dynasty was able to dominate the north and swallow up the Central Plains was that they had an extremely strong foundation of public opinion. Their people yearned for war, their court strongly advocated for war. So although they have a population of thousands, they have become the thorn in the side of my divine state."

  "The kid still doesn't understand."

  "My lord, one day you will surely cross the great river to recover the sixteen prefectures of Youyun. At that time, we will inevitably face the enormous pressure from the imperial court south of the great river and the million-strong army of foreign tribes beyond the Great Wall. As for the imperial court, as long as we respond properly, they will have no choice but to leave us be. However, the foreign tribes outside the passes have always been the mortal enemies of our divine land."

  "Is Mr. Feng's meaning that he wants to weaken the enemy's national strength as much as possible?"