novel
| ← Ch.261 | Ch.263 → |
Chapter 262
Chapter 262 - Anping Once More
On the days in Julu, Jinyang forces resupplied their food and received additional payment for their help, food supplies, weapons, and pocket money.
All soldiers were grinning from ear to ear, feeling good that they were friends with Julu forces. Besides, the food that they got from Julu was delicious as salt, sugar, and spice was rich in stock.
Li Feihong dropped off thousands of dairy cows, bulls, chickens, and living freshwater fishes so Julu City could continue to breed them as their another source of meat. He did not forget to give Zhang Jiao a hundred of newly bred Red Hare horses.
At the same time, he bought Julu's specialties, such as beer, whiskey, crude oil, and prototype steel weapons that the blacksmiths stocked for Tong.
Although Li Feihong had that BDO Cooking Utensil that could cook beer, wine, and other food, he could not rely on it as it consumed a lot of materials. It also took times and required a worker to continue making it non-stop to be useful. In the end, he only kept it as a tool in his private world to cook his own food in the emergency or if he felt like it. To him, it was more convenient for him just to buy finished food or products from Julu directly.
As for Zhang Jiao, he accepted all the animals from Li Feihong in without hesitation. Instead of breeding them, he had another idea.
Zhang Jiao decided to visit Hua Shi and asked her. Upon arriving at Tong's room, he saw He Xing, Zou Shi, and Hua Shi together. It seemed that the housewives were having a meeting.
.
Liu Xie had already learned how to walk. He stood and stared at the newly born daughter of Hua Shi.
"Liu Xie, this is your new sister Zhang Min. Say hello to her."
"Fudge Min?"
"Stop swearing. Say hello."
"Fudging hello?"
"..."
He Xing was on the verge of tears. Hua Shi, who was sitting next to her, patted her back.
"It will pass. Xie will learn proper speech. By the way, I'll tell Tong to punish that asshole Jia later."
"Mm, sorry."
Hua Shi's attitude toward He Xing got better after Zhang Min, Hua Shi and Tong's child, was born. As a mother, her responsibility increased, which forced her to throw away her immature sides.
For someone who experienced the second life, Hua Shi's adaptive abilities were high, so she did not have a problem about changing her attitude toward He Xing.
At first, He Xing was also surprised that Hua Shi suddenly got friendly with her. But having a friend is better than having an enemy. As a veteran Imperial concubine and ex-empress, she also had no problem with adjusting to the environment as well.
Besides, Hua Shi was Tong's official wife. Therefore, being in the same faction as the main wife could ensure her well-being within Tong's domain.
"Have you fed her?" Asked He Xing.
"Already fed to the point that her stomach turns into a ball. Look at her balloon belly! It is about to burst. She almost sucked me dried today. Look at my chest, one of them is smaller than the other one. I'm worried that she will die because of overeating!"
He Xing snickered and thought, 'It's your karma. You always sucked your husband dried every night. '
Zou Shi glanced at the two and looked at Liu Xie and Zhang Min in envy.
"I want a baby too..."
"Just ask your husband. I'm sure he'll be delighted, " Suggested Hua Shi.
"He's... kinda useless at night."
"What happened? Tell us, maybe we can help."
"He's impotent."
"... My condolence, " He Xing consoled Zou Shi.
On the other hand, Hua Shi grinned, "I have a cure. I can create a blue pill that can restore his vitality, but it has a side effect."
"What side effect?"
"He'll probably be erected all night, and there's a risk of him getting a heart attack if his health is bad. In exchange, he can give you a baby."
"Err... it's too risky. Maybe we should not..."
.
Seeing that the three housewives were having a tea party and the conversation was impropriating to have a man around, Zhang Jiao stopped his feet.
Then, he smacked his forehead as he recalled that he had the clan chat. He returned to work and typed in the clan chat instead of asking Hua Shi directly.
>
Zhang Jiao: Shi'er, do you know if Tong can produce raw meat?
Hua Shi blinked as she was staring at her father-in-law's clan message, not knowing what he was planning to do.
Hua Shi: If he had eaten them, he can.
Hua Shi: Actually, I'm thinking about copying his [Create Food] skill next year. Why do you ask?"
Zhang Jiao: I've got my hands on several animals.
Zhang Jiao: I was thinking if it was possible for Tong to multiply them more efficiently.
Hua Shi: You know, father. I think I have a good idea.
Hua Shi: It will take a while before you plan to come to fruition, but it will be worth it. For now, please one of those animals to our cook and let him cook for us. We, mothers, are lacking nutrition. We wish to eat some meat today."
Li Feihong, who was at Anping, noticed the chat. He chimed in.
Li Feihong: I'm so envious >_>
Li Feihong: I wish I have that [Create Food] too!
Hua Shi: Wanna trade?
Li Feihong: Trade? But I'm cool with my skills.
Hua Shi: You won't lose anything.
Hua Shi: Actually, you will gain [Create Food], and your skill will remain.
Hua Shi: Once Tong and I gather about 2M to 4M+ lifespans, how about we trade our skills?
Li Feihong: How?
Hua Shi: Clan donation and transfer.
Li Feihong: AH!
The two continued to exchange their skill details. Hua Shi also told everyone about soulmate contract, which could be used for a husband-and-wife to copy their partner's skills.
...
...
February 22nd.
Lu Bu and his army of 60, 000 heavy cavalries had arrived at Anping County where three fortresses situated there.
Two of the three forts were built on the north and the south of the old fortress that Tong used in the battle two years ago. Each of the forts did not connect to each other, which left 500-meter spaces between them.
Although they left a space open, deep moat protected the sides of the structures as if they expected the enemies to get through these passages. No road, gate, or bridge appeared on the side of each fort as the only entrance on each fort located in the west, which was the opposite direction of the frontline.
Jia Xu and Julu forces had constructed a mixture of stone walls and palisade wall, turning it into a new wall layout for the county.
There was not only one deep long moat in front of the three forts, but there were a dozen layers. Behind the first line of wall and the battlements, mazes of trenches and traps were laid, which served as the next line of defense.
Another formation of the wooden battlement wall stood 200 meters away from the first wall, which was even taller than the previous one. The odd thing was, the inner fort wall slanted outward. The edge of the wall was raised outward, but the inner edge caved into the inner fortress. If there were a satellite photo of these fortresses, they would see a triangle within the forts, and the three fortresses created a [W] formation.
Lu Bu frowned as he inspected the layout of the defensive lines. He did not like being holed up in a fortress as he was not proficient at defense. To Lu Bu, it was more efficient for him to just charge into the enemy-packed formations.
Xu Huang, the newest general of Tong Army, rode toward Lu Bu. He bowed, "Lord Lu Bu, our strategist invites you to the main tent. He wants to discuss the troop placement and our cooperation."
Lu Bu nodded but his eyes glued at Xu Huang as if he had seen a beautiful lady.
"You're a good fighter. You're Zhang Tong's general, right? Want a spar with me?"
Xu Huang was taken aback, "I'm sorry. We're quite busy at the moment. For the practice session, let's talk about it later when we're free."
Lu Bu clicked his tongue, "You are all boring. Has Tong taught you this way!? Why doesn't everyone know how important it is to practice when they have a chance?"
Gao Shun, who was tagging along with Lu Bu, gave Xu Huang an apological smile. In his mind, he retorted his boss, 'Everybody is very normal, boss. It's only you that has an issue. '
.
By the end of the day, Jia Xu integrated both Jinyang and Julu Army together. He assigned officers into each designated fortress, judging from the skills and abilities of the generals from Tong's words.
Lu Zhi, Zhou Cang, and Xu Huang were assigned 5, 000 soldiers each. The three was assigned to guard the southern fortress with their infantries.
Li Feihong, Gao Shun, and Zhang Liao were sent to the northern fortress. Instead of leading their 60, 000 cavalries, Jia Xu gave them 15, 000 Julu soldiers of Julu to help them.
As all of 60, 000 heavy cavalries of Jinyang, Jia Xu stationed them behind the fortress and ordered them to stand by for future orders.
At the same time, the 10, 000 infantries were ordered to protect the central fort while the rest of 20, 000 men stood behind with the cavalries as reserve forces.
Lu Bu was the only one without an army to lead, but he could move anywhere he wanted. This placement satisfied Lu Bu as well. He praised Jia Xu for being an understandable strategist in the meeting in the middle of dead-fish stares from his subordinates.
As for the old fox himself, he stationed in the central fort so he could see the situation from all fort.
As the placement completed, Li Feihong stared at the strategic board in doubt.
The latest news revealed that Yuan Shao had 200, 000 soldiers, but Jia Xu only put 40, 000 soldiers at work. The other 80, 000 men were put behind them as a reserve force instead.
"Lord Jia Xu. I think our placement is inefficient. We can't use our number properly this way."
Jia Xu snorted, "So do they! Do you think that in the real battle they can send out all 200, 000 soldiers to battle at once?"
Lu Zhi darted his eyes around the strategic board and nodded as he understood the reason behind the placement.
"It's the defensive shifts, " Lu Zhi inserted.
"Correct. We're expecting a prolonged warfare. There can be night attacks, fake night attacks, harassment tactics, and the likes. Everything is possible on a battlefield so I won't put all my chess pieces on the board at once. I'll leave some of them as our backup, and the horsemen can be our wild cards in this battle if they let their guards down."
Zhang Liao tapped a horsemen army token, "What about the cavalry placement? Why are you placing them on the back instead of putting them on the sides? The ideal horse units should be on the sides so we can use our mobility."
Jia Xu shook his head, "We don't want to fight in a battle of attrition from the beginning. Putting horse units on the sides is a declaration that we want to duke it out with their horse units too. Though all of you have experienced facing Xiongnu elites, our opponent this time is smarter and stronger than the Xiongnu tribes."
Jia Xu paused and looked at every general in the main tent.
"My spies have just given me two bad news last week. One, they have completed copying our repeating crossbows. All infantries in their units are using the same crossbows as us! We can't afford a risky tactic. And two, Yuan Shao force has invented a new weapon."
Jia Xu grabbed a small bag from the edge of the tent and placed it on the table. Inside the leather bag, the black powders could be seen.
Jia Xu picked a pinch of the powders and threw it at the nearest lamp stall.
*FWOOSH*
The black powders flashed and turned into white smoke.
Li Feihong widened his eyes as he recognized this black powders.
"Gunpowder!"
| ← Ch. 261 | Ch. 263 → |