Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 957 – Night Before the Final Battle
Juedai Fenghua’s suggestion tempted Di Chen and the others.
The few of them discussed and also invited Lianpo and the other generals to simulate the battle. In the end, they all agreed to her plan and even gave it a really cool name – Dragonslayer.
Once Zhan Lang and the others left, Juedai Fenghua was a little worried, “Is it really okay for us to move 50 thousand troops?”
As Pill Sun City was unable to assist Swordsman City, Di Chen as the boss naturally needed to step up and do his part. As a result, he moved 50 thousand troops in one go.
“Is there any movement over at Stone City?” Di Chen asked.
“It’s calm.”
“Then there should not be a problem. Wufu has no courage.”
“Let’s hope so!”
For some reason, Juedai Fenghua was still feeling a little uneasy.
************
10th month, 14th day, Swordsman City.
At 9 AM, the 150 thousand troops from the various Yanhuang Alliance territories all teleported over to Swordsman City. Along with the army was general Lianpo.
They needed a good general to command such a large scale battle.
Chun Shenjun’s Tian Dan was still in Xiangnan Province, while Wuqi was still locked in a standstill against Sun Bin. As such, neither of them could come over.
The only general they could use was Lianpo.
The sudden appearance of 150 thousand troops would still cause a lot of noise no matter how hidden they tried to be. As such, they were noticed by the Shanhai Guard spies.
Lianpo also did not think about purposely hiding it.
From what Di Chen said, “This is a proper all out brawl; there’s nothing to hide.”
Baiqi was still thousands of miles away, and Great Xia could not move any reinforcements in such a short few days. No matter what, this battle was a destined one that no one could stop.
Feng Qingyang had gotten the news and happily welcomed Lianpo into the City Lord’s Manor.
The waves that rose up from the Xiangnan Province battle worried Feng Qingyang the most. He knew that he had the highest chance of being abandoned by the alliance, so he could not sleep well for a consecutive few days.
Within the City Lord’s Manor, Wei Yan, Zhao Yun, and Pang Tong were all waiting. As the Lord, Feng Qingyang introduced them one by one to Lianpo.
As one of the four famous generals of the Warring States Period, no one would oppose the decision if he became the main general. Zhao Yun and Wei Yan would rather be the deputies and participate in the discussions about the battle.
360 thousand against 220 thousand; in terms of numbers, the Alliance Army had the advantage. However, they were far from having an overwhelming majority. As such, it was still going to be difficult to win this battle.
Before coming, Di Chen and the others had come to the consensus that they did not wish to fully annihilate the Dragon Legion Corps. They only needed to force them back so that they could not threaten to destroy Swordsman City.
Basically, with such a strategic consideration, Lianpo said, “In the final battle, our army will put our main focus on their wings to force them to squeeze toward the middle and eventually retreat.”
When Zhao Yun heard Lianpo’s battle plan, he was unwilling.
Before coming, Liu Bei had instructed him to wipe out the enemy troops to the best of his ability.
Considering the situation, Zhao Yun did not oppose the plan. At most, he would viciously strike at the wings of the enemy tomorrow as a form of revenge.
Pang Tong, who followed Zhao Yun along, did not speak a single word either. His eyes showed that he was deep in thought.
…
With the meeting settled, the 150 thousand reinforcements did not stay in the city but moved outside. Even the 60 thousand troops led by Wei Yan followed them out and got into formation outside of the city.
The 360 thousand strong army lined up, and their tents covered the entire field so that one could not see the ends of it.
The 150 thousand Shu Han army formed the left wing, the 60 thousand Swordsman City troops were in the middle, while the 150 thousand reinforcements served as the right wing. To provide the army with grain, Feng Qingyang had basically emptied the granary.
Lianpo was not slacking off. He merged the 150 thousand reinforcements while he created a command system in preparation for the battle tomorrow.
Luckily, this was not the first time that the troops of the Yanhuang Alliance had gathered together to fight. They were used to it and were comfortable with working another, so Lianpo did not need to worry much.
At 3 PM, with the accompaniment of Feng Qingyang, Lianpo went to inspect the battlefield.
The battlefield of the final battle was on the southern outskirts of Swordsman City. The entire south was vast. Apart from a few small hills, it was basically an endless plain.
The Shu Lands only had one rice season a year, and it was now the 10th month. As such, most of the crops had been harvested. The paddies were filled with random grass, and it was really muddy.
Tang Dynasty famous poet Li Shangying had once stayed here for a period of time, and he wrote a poem called Sent North in Night Rain.
You ask for the time of my return, but there is not a time;
On Mt. Ba, the night rain swells autumnal pools.
When can we together cut the candle by the west window, and speak of the time of night rain on Mt. Ba?
There was a lot of mention of rain in the story, which was proof of the Shu Lands’ heavy rain frequency. Normally, the Shu Lands would rain at night and rarely during the day.
The rain last night soaked all the paddy fields and made them really muddy.
Such geography would undoubtedly affect the charging cavalry and the fighting of infantry. If the commander did not consider this factor, they would be at a huge disadvantage.
This was the importance of scouting the ground.
Amongst the paddies, there were some rapeseed flower fields that had just been planted. Apart from that, there were some fruit gardens.
After the big battle tomorrow, who knows what kind of state they would be left in?
As for the villages scattered around, most of them were already left empty.
The Great Xia Army was not as messed up in the head as the Dali army, and they would not massacre civilians. However, such a big war would often have many innocent casualties, so the people obviously decided to hide in the city.
Further away, there was the Dragon Legion Corps camp. Different from the Alliance Army one, the Dragon Legion Corps used green tents that camouflaged in the wilderness. If one did not look carefully, they would not be able to see a thing.
When Lianpo saw this, he was impressed, “What a great idea.” As a person who had been through many battles, he naturally saw the pros of such a green tent.
The green tent was invented by the Combat Logistics Department. They could swiftly change their gear, apart from the development of a dye, because of the large scale use of sewing machines in Great Xia.
For the next step, Xiahou Ying was really ambitious and wanted to change all their uniforms to a standard green.
However, this project would use up too many resources. Even with the ability of Great Xia, to change the uniforms of millions of troops could not be done in a short time.
Furthermore, during the cold weapons era, soldiers all wore armor. The green uniform would not have much of an effect compared to modern warfare.
The Military Affairs Minister postponed this project and Ouyang Shuo did not interfere.
Looking out at the Great Xia Army Camp, Lianpo was not as confident as he appeared in the manor. After fighting so many times with the Great Xia, he was really familiar with their strength.
Although they had the numerical advantage, he did not have absolute confidence. To choose to have the final battle now was a little rushed.
Although that was the case, Lianpo was still really fervent and eager.
He had lost many times to Great Xia, so he wanted to win over them. Regretfully, his old opponent Baiqi had not arrived on the battlefield.
“I must definitely win this battle!” Lianpo’s gaze was filled with firmness.
Lianpo only returned to the camp when night fell.
…
Just as Lianpo was scouting the battlefield, the Dragon Legion Corps had movement too.
4th legion camp, central tent.
Lai Hu’er, Zhang Liao, Luo Shixin, and Xiao Chaogui had all gathered together. There was one other person, the following strategist, Administrative Mentor Court Advisor Chen Gong.
Long ago, when the Dragon Legion Corps was sent into the Shu Lands, Chen Gong was appointed as the strategist. During the Battle of Jiangyang Prefecture, Baiqi was commanding from the back while Chen Gong took charge of the frontlines to add to the instructions.
The four generals were all equally skilled in battle. However, as Luo Shixin had been in Great Xia the longest and was also trained by Baiqi, he had a higher position than the other three.
As a result, before Baiqi arrived, he would serve as the main general.
The news of the 150 thousand reinforcements had spread to them long ago. Facing the enemy that seemed like they were going to go all out, the four generals were not nervous at all.
Luo Shixin said, “Strategist, it’s time to use the token that the king gave you.”
Chen Gong nodded, “Although we have it, we cannot be too overconfident. It’s best if we send someone to inform Fu Yang to ask the Qiang Race army to get ready.”
Luo Shixin said, “You are right. This is the crucial battle, and our commander is not here. How much we are able to get depends on the few of us. We cannot lose face for our king.”
“General, give the order!”
Zhang Liao and the others cupped their fists.
Luo Shixin started to plan the tactics. Of course, he did not decide everything on his own, and he discussed things with the three other generals. With Chen Gong there, they came up with a suitable battle plan.
It seemed like Di Chen and the others had miscalculated. Without Baiqi, the Dragon Legion Corps could still fight wars.
