The Demon Lords

Chapter 456 57 North_1

On the frontline of the Yan and Qian border, a fierce battle had just ended. Some soldiers were dressing their wounds, while others were reorganizing their arrows.

War can turn individuals rich in emotions into emotionless parts of a machine, and the scene here was the perfect illustration of this fact.

No one was sad, no one shed tears, nor did anyone play the flute or the Guzheng. No one looked at the impending sunset and how compatible it was with the current scenario.

The Qian State was renowned for its many poets, including a number from the borderlands. However, no one truly understood how, during nearly a hundred years of peace between Yan and Qian, these border poets of the Qian State could be "moved by the scene" to compose such heroic and grand poems about the battlefield.

Zheng Fan had studied many famous poems of the Qian State. Due to Yan State's environmental and political factors, he focused on borderland poems to see whether the poems in his mind were better than those of this era and could be useful in the future.

He discovered that when Qian people's poems and writings described war and the borderlands, they gave an impression much like later generations' high-and-mighty traditional authors who, when writing about rural areas, would simply pile on adjectives like "rustic," "simple," and "honest."

Those who didn't know the truth would think "So that's how it is," while those who had really experienced the battlefield would sneer at this.

There were no wails, no cries, not even from the severely injured soldiers who merely issued low moans from their throats. Like a wolf, even when licking its wounds, there's a certain way about it.

This was already their sixth encounter battle recently.

The North Army and the South Peace Army, totaling 250,000 strong cavalry, advanced straight into the heartland of the Qian State. However, to the surprise of many commanders in Nanwang City, the armies from the three border regions of the Qian State did not return to reinforce them. Instead, they remained securely within their established defense lines.

Even more surprisingly, they began to actively dispatch troops northward, their eagerness to engage quite apparent.

In the beginning, it was just probing, with forces of one or two thousand. But gradually, this probing shifted to preparations for a large-scale war, and their northward-advancing troops began to number in the tens of thousands.

The Qian State already possessed numerous cavalry units along its three borders. When Zheng Fan led the Green Willow Fortress Cavalry south to reap military merits, he had encountered blockades by the Qian State's three-border cavalry. Furthermore, with the transfer of over thirty thousand cavalry from the West Army Division's West Mountain camp, the number of cavalry on the Qian State's three borders had reached a very considerable scale.

Previously, an encounter battle involving tens of thousands of soldiers had just erupted here. Both sides suffered heavy casualties, and the battle concluded with the retreat of the Qian people. The Yan people lacked the strength to pursue. Firstly, their own side needed to seize the time to rest and recover. Secondly, no one knew if the Qian people's line of retreat concealed an ambush by other Qian forces.

Two commanders sat together. One had suffered a deep cut on his leg that exposed the bone. Even if he healed, he probably wouldn't be able to ride a horse again, and even walking would require a crutch.

The other commander had been struck by an arrow in both his front and back. Thanks to his armor, the arrow had not hit any vital organs, but removing it was still excruciatingly painful.

In fact, for these two, their own injuries weren't what pained them the most. What truly broke their hearts was the sight of their subordinates who had fallen on the battlefield, never to rise again.

The Yan Army's military system was quite crude. Much like civil officials were judged by whether they held a substantive post, military commanders were valued based on whether the troops under their command were strong and robust.

It was similar to the Desert Barbarians: the Yan Emperor could be considered the Royal Court, and the various military leaders and their troops were like tribes in the desert.

Though expressed differently, the most significant concern for these warlords was preserving their strength, just like Commander Zheng back at Green Willow Fortress.

"Old Liang, if we keep fighting like this, our meager foundations will be completely exhausted!"

"Who's to say otherwise? After decades of hard work, we finally managed to build up these assets. We originally thought we could further expand our strength during His Majesty's grand southern campaign. Who would have thought we'd end up fighting such a costly war of attrition here on our own?"

"That Fatty Hui claims to be from the North and thinks he's a military expert. Yes, the North Army is formidable, but what does that have to do with him, Fatty Hui? If this war continues like this, I really can't take it anymore. These brothers have followed me for so many years; I can't let them all perish here. We have to leave some 'seeds' behind."

"Heh, what's the use of saying that now? The Qian people are attacking more fiercely each time. Next time, with the little we two have left, we won't even have enough men to plug the gaps. Our lads might not compare to the North Army or the South Peace Army, but at least they're all skilled horsemen. Their mounted archery is definitely no worse than the Qian cavalry's. Yet, we're being forced to charge head-on against the Qian people! Such a squanderer! Damn that Direct Thief, truly a damned squanderer!"

While the two commanders were cursing, a group of horsemen emerged from the woods behind them. At the forefront was an enormous mountain of flesh.

It was a good thing the mount beneath the mountain of flesh was a Pi Beast; an ordinary warhorse truly couldn't have borne such weight.

Even so, when the Pi Beast galloped up to them, it was already panting heavily, looking utterly exhausted.

Hui Wenzu dismounted. Following behind him were three more commanders.

Because of the cold weather, the stench of blood on the battlefield was not very strong; the blood on the ground had either coagulated or frozen.