Chapter 199 A Pioneer

Of course, Li Ye recognized that the man in the black robe was Wuyazi, whose arm he cut off two days ago in Xuzhou.

Seeing Wuyazi rushing towards them seemingly to stop them, Li Ye at first thought it absurd. After all, Li Ye could defeat Wuyazi in one strike even at his prime. At his present condition, Li Ye felt Wuyazi had drastically overestimated his own abilities.

But soon, Li Ye realized something was wrong. He quickly warned Song Jiao as well as the Senior and Junior Priestesses. “Retreat!”

Wuyazi dashed toward them with a crazed expression. His eyes now looked as sharp as blades, and he opened his arms after rising in the air. Without any defense, he speeded up to the extreme and suddenly shot at Li Ye and others at high speed. When he came up to Li Ye and the others, he shouted ferociously. “The Taoist sect will prosper!”

Then Wuyazi blew himself up in mid-air!

With a bang, the body of Wuyazi turned into flying ash, and the airwaves suddenly spread from the place where he was. In an instant, the airwaves covered the place within the range of more than 300 meters. As sharp as blades, the wild wind waves swept toward Li Ye and others. The world was eclipsed, and everything became silent. However, the ears of the crowd were humming because of the sound wave from the explosion.

Li Ye and others were forced to retreat. Though they launched defensive measures one after another, they were still affected by the airwaves. Li Ye was okay. With the green lotus and Dragon Qi, Li Ye’s Spiritual Qi was as vigorous as those in the Spiritual Master Realm. However, the Senior and Junior Priestesses and Song Jiao were rather discomfited. Under the impact of the airwaves, each of them was pushed about a hundred steps back. Their clothes and hair were quite a mess.

When a person’s cultivation reached the Spiritual Master Realm, he could choose to blow himself up. But Wuyazi was only at the semi Foundation-building Stage. Though he blew himself up, the power he exerted was undoubtedly much smaller than the one who reached the Spiritual Master Realm. If someone of the Spiritual Master Realm blew himself up in front of them, not only would Li Ye be seriously injured, but the Senior and Junior Priestesses and Song Jiao would’ve been killed too.

“This Taoist priest is really crazy!” Song Jiao gnashed her teeth with rage.

Li Ye shook his head. “Although we are enemies under different masters, I still admire him for being willing to give up his life for righteousness.”

Having been delayed by Wuyazi, Li Ye and the others were unable to catch up with Zhu Wen who was fleeing at full speed. After all, they were not far from Dengzhou. Once Zhu Wen arrived at his military camp, there was nothing Li Ye and others could do.

It was just that the crowd had already arrived at this place, so they couldn’t go back to Xuzhou. Anyway, the Senior and Junior Priestesses, as well as Song Jiao, were not seriously hurt. Thus, Li Ye and the others continued their journey to Dengzhou to observe the opposing side’s defense situation.

Along the way, Li Ye didn’t look as relaxed as before. Wuyazi was even willing to blow himself up to protect Zhu Wen. Such an unyielding integrity showed the will of the Taoist sect at Zhongnan Mountain. It seemed to Li Ye that the battle that followed would not be easy.

When he arrived in Dengzhou, Li Ye carefully observed the defense arrangement of Zhu Wen’s army and Dengzhou’s defense situation. His eyebrows wrinkled slightly.

The percentage of cultivators took up a high proportion of Zhu Wen’s army, which was more than twice that of the ordinary vassal state. It seemed that with the help of Taoist sect of Zhongnan Mountain, many people in the army of Huang Chao and Zhu Wen had become cultivators. It was the so-called collusion between Taoist sect and the vassal state. To expand the team of cultivators, they accepted as many disciples as possible and passed on Taoist methods to them. Now it was the time to show their power.

When they fought on the battlefield, those cultivators were the backbone of the army aimed at breaking formations. Their number and strength could directly affect the outcome of a war.

In this world, a battle always constituted a contest of various parts of war. All measures were employed to the utmost. They were crucial to the victory or defeat of a war. But essentially, the only element to determine the victory or defeat of a war was the cultivator or the stronger one.

Fortunately, Dengzhou’s city defense had not been completed. There were rock rolling, arrowheads, and fork guns. But curtains, fangs, and crossbows needed to be replenished after the damage, which was not an easy task.

It was not easy to rebuild the city wall after the collapse to the same strength as before, especially the big and small defensive formation. It was not the type of overnight work to prepare various materials needed.

Li Ye and others did not stay for too long in Dengzhou, because Zhongnan Mountain had dispatched masters in the Spiritual Master Realm. At the enemy’s territory, tens of thousands of troops were also on the prowl. Li Ye did not have any intention to attack those in the Spiritual Master Realm directly. So he returned with Song Jiao.

After returning to Xuzhou, Li Ye and Zhou Ji met and he told Zhou Ji about Dengzhou’s city defense and battle power of Zhuwen’s defense arrangement.

It was obvious that Zhou Ji was not at ease, but that didn’t affect his will to fight.

Yang Fuguang had been to Caizhou. The only thing that needed to be known was the result of the negotiation with Qin Zongquan. Li Ye was not anxious. The Pinglu Army had been marching in this direction and would arrive soon. Whether Qin Zongquan supported him or not, the army would march towards the west to Dengzhou.

After two days, Yang Fuguang sent messages back. Qin Zongquan had agreed to head west to Dengzhou, and he would send senior general Wang Shu to lead 15 thousand soldiers to assist them in the fight. Yang Fuguang’s messenger said he would return to Xuzhou with Wang Shu’s army.

Admittedly, Yang Fuguang was indeed quite something.

When Liu Dazheng led the Ping Lu Army to Xuzhou, the Caizhou Army of Yang Fuguang and Wangshu also came. The army set up camp to rest outside Xuzhou city in branch units and prepared to set out at any time after some rest.

That day, Li Ye, Zhou Ji, Yang Fuguang, Wang Shu, the senior generals of Pinglu and Zhong Wu, the advisors of Li Ye and Zhou Ji, had a military meeting. Together, they discussed the details of the expedition.

“The Zhongwu Army can dispatch 50 thousand soldiers to the west. With the army of Pinglu and Caizhou, there are a total of 165 thousand soldiers. I have heard that our enemy’s army in Dengzhou only has around 50 thousand soldiers. We now have a big possibility of winning!” Yang Fuguang was still as confident as usual.

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Wang Shu, the senior general of Caizhou, smiled ironically. “The art of war says surround the enemy with ten times the soldiers, attack the enemy with five times the soldiers, and separate the enemy with half the soldiers. The total number of our soldiers is just three times that of our enemy. A far cry from the standard ten times number of soldiers. We don’t even have a force to launch a frontal attack. So how can we say that there is a big possibility of winning?”

Yang Fuguang replied instantly. “The Zhu Wen branch just faced a big battle. Although Dengzhou was breached, it turned to be a failure finally. And now they’re exhausted. Prince An has inspected that place and found out that Dengzhou’s defense is incomplete. If we dispatch the best army we have to attack their exhausted army, will we fail? Furthermore, we are His Majesty’s army. Would it not be to our honor to smash the enemy quickly? Our enemy must be afraid of us!”

Wang Shu, wrapped his arms, raised his chin and sneered. “The art of war says traveling over one hundred miles fast for profit may cost one senior general. Traveling fifty miles for profit will end with half of the army arriving. It is over one fifty kilometers from Xuzhou to Dengzhou. If we travel this distance, our enemy will relax as they wait for our tired army. How can we say we will win?”

Although Wang Shu had brought the Caizhou Army here and Qin Zongquan also agreed to cooperate with the army to attach Dengzhou, it was Wang Shu’s style. Obviously, he had a negative attitude towards the result of the war.

Perhaps, before starting, Qin Zongquan often told Wang Shu that he should avoid this war if possible. If it was not possible, the army should only show up instead of getting involved in the real war. Thus, he could avoid being taken advantage of and wasting his soldiers and generals on the battlefield.

Yang Fuguang was angry upon seeing Wang Shu’s performance. It seemed that Wang Shu had efficient art of war and evidence. However, fighting on the battlefield was not like writing an article. It was not the same as the art of war. People should adjust according to the real situation of the enemy and react flexibly.

Yang Fuguang was very angry because Wang Shu had provoked him many times. He said with rage. “General Wang is afraid before fighting, are you going to lead the army back?!”

Wang Shu grunted coldly, but he didn’t overdo it as others were looking at him angrily. So he slightly cupped his hands and said. “I wouldn’t dare.”

Li Ye glanced at Wang Shu several times silently. Whether it was Wang Shu or Qin Zongquan, they were both ministers of Zhongwu Army’s Internal Affairs. It was not his place to interfere.

“I bet you wouldn’t dare!” Yang Fuguang stared at Wang Shu several times and said to the generals of the meeting. “Now, Pinglu army and we are heading west together. We have to make sure that the commands are transmitted successfully. The branches need to move inconsistently and there should be a commander.”

At this moment, Yang Fuguang cupped his fist to salute Li Ye. “Prince An is the commissioner of Pinglu. He is also the East Conquering Military Commander appointed by His Majesty. The position of commander of the three armies has to be you. Please do not refuse!”

Zhou Ji also cupped his hands. “Please give orders to the whole army that Zhongwu Army must obey orders, Your Highness!”

The general of Pinglu Army, Liu Dazheng, Zhao Polu, Shangcheng Qingcheng, and others were all happy and smiled seeing Zhou Ji and Yang Fuguang being sensible. Only Wang Shu was staring into nothing, seemingly not interested in this.

Li Ye did not have the habit of being modest and polite. They were on the battlefield, so there was no need to refuse, which could be considered as overdoing things. So he did not decline the responsibility. “In that case, I have to take this responsibility.”

As he was the East Conquering Military Commander, it was reasonable for him to be the commander. What was the East Conquering Military Commander? It meant the army on the east of Tongguan was now under Li Ye’s charge, and they were to follow his orders. The Zhongwu Army was under his scope of command. Now, the statements of Yang Fuguang and Zhouji were to confirm the standpoint of Zhongwu Army.

The main strategy of the expedition had been discussed between Li Ye, Yang Fuguang, and Zhou Ji. This time was just the stage to verify the details and inform the generals. Soon, the plan of the expedition was clear. Li Ye appointed the generals on the spot and gave orders, mainly about appointing the responsibilities of the pioneer army, central army, flank army, rear army transport, grain requisition and transfer.

Then, Li Ye had gathered the army outside Xuzhou, offered sacrifice to the flag and started the expedition.

No more chats, the army entered into the jurisdiction of the commissioner in South Mountain East Road. Instead of directly attacking Dengzhou, they arrived Tangzhou first and moved one section of the army over to Tangzhou. At the same time, Li Ye wrote to Liu Jurong, the commissioner of South Mountain East Road and ordered him to lead the army to the north and attach Dengzhou with his army.

Dengzhou itself was a state which belonged to South Mountain East Road. Although Li Ye and the others were sure that Liu Jurong would not bring his army to assist them. But since they arrived at his territory, Li Ye still needed to greet him and take the opportunity to inform him that if he didn’t lead the army to meet Li Ye’s army, he should provide food for the army after Li Ye seized Dengzhou.

When the main force of Li Ye’s army stayed for a short while in Tangzhou, Shangguan Qingcheng led an internal army which had three thousand soldiers as the pioneer army of the great army and went directly to Dengzhou.

Theoretically, three thousand of the best cavalrymen seemed too few for a pioneer army. There had to be at least five thousand soldiers. But the internal cavalrymen of Shangguan Qingcheng were handpicked by Li Ye. They had the toughest training tasks and the best equipment, and they had killed the largest number of enemies in Pinglu. Moreover, the pioneer army had the most cultivators compared with all the other armies.

As it was the best internal army which Li Ye trusted the most, they should certainly be in the frontline in the battlefield. On the one hand, it gave them the chance to make contributions. On the other hand, it showed Li Ye’s will to fight.

Li Ye had specially named the three thousand internal cavalrymen as “Wolf-tooth Troop”. Why Wolf-tooth? Why call them “Troop” instead of “Army”? It was because there was only one army under the command of Li Ye, namely the Pinglu Army.

The task of Wolf-tooth Troop was simple. They should get rid of their enemies along the road from Tangzhou to Dengzhou and Zhu Wen’s troops along the way. It was their first shot, so they had to obtain an absolute victory. By doing this, they could deter the other branches of Zhu Wen’s army and boost the morale of the generals and soldiers.

To achieve the first victory, Li Ye did what he used to do. He wore a full armor as a cavalryman and went with Shangguan Qingcheng.

Senior priestess and junior priestess were all armored by Li Ye, and he let them follow in the queue of the cavalrymen. It had to be said that the temperaments of senior and junior priestess were changed suddenly after wearing the armor. They looked great in their armors.

The senior priestess’s make-up was always delicate, charming and mature. She had a kind of a cold beauty. Now the armor increased the sense of killing in her. She looked more valiant in the armor. It made her look ferocious. The junior priestess was not so frightening in her armor. On the contrary, she appeared weaker than before. She looked like a fragile snail in its shell which made people want to protect her.

After satisfying his poor taste, Li Ye looked back at the two people from time to time. Sometimes he could not help laughing, which made Shangguan Qingcheng often stare at him.