novelraw Chapter 138: Main Battlefield of the Battle of Pengcheng
Chapter 138: Main Battlefield of the Battle of Pengcheng
January eighteenth.
The crew arrived at a vast exterior set deep in the Gobi.
When the car doors opened, an icy wind carrying yellow sand poured into the vehicle, and everyone instinctively hunched their necks.
But the next second, they were nailed to the spot by the sight before them.
It was an ancient military city so real it took your breath away, rising out of the endless yellow sand.
Stretching encampments, towering watchtowers, huge trebuchets and battering rams, all carried a coarse texture worn by the passage of time.
Nearly a thousand extras wearing Qin and Han style uniforms had already assembled in advance and were moving within their assigned areas.
This was the main battlefield for the Battle of Pengcheng.
A massive loudspeaker had been set up beside the director’s monitor, and Wei Song’s voice reverberated across the plain.
He didn’t spout vague artistic ideals.His message was brutally practical.
“Today, there are no stars, no extras, no heroes here, only two kinds of people.”
Wei Song’s voice, through the loudspeaker, reached everyone’s ears with crystal clarity.
“Professional ‘Chu Army’ and professional ‘Han Army’!”
The noisy crowd of extras fell silent in an instant.
“Remember the pay you’re getting today, remember where you’re standing now, and above all remember every single word the safety officers just told you!”
“This is not shooting an ancient romantic drama in Hengdian, this is a war scene!”
“If any link fails, you’re not delaying me, Wei Song, you’re jeopardizing the meal ticket for nearly a thousand people today, and everyone’s safety!”
“Understand?!”
“Understood!”
The roar echoed over the Gobi.
Jiang Ci and Yuan Kui’s twelve core cavalry members had their own separate rest area.
Their warhorses were exceptional breeds specially selected from the cavalry stables and tended by dedicated handlers.
On the other side, several hundred infantry extras were squeezed into the assembly area.
The divide was clear.
Whispers began to ripple through the extras.
“See him? That’s the one playing Xiang Yu, Jiang Ci.”
“Gosh, that horse is worth more than my annual salary.”
“The treatment they get is just different, we’re cannon fodder.”
“Stop complaining. This job’s dangerous, be sharp. If you fall, protect your head.”
“I heard they’ll really charge later, hooves don’t care whose legs they break.”
Martial Arts Director Yuan Kui was walking his team through a check of the extras’ protective gear and prop weapons.
He came up to a young extra playing a Han soldier; the kid’s hands were shaking with nerves.
Yuan Kui picked up the halberd the kid held and weighed it.
“Scared?”
The youngster nodded hard, then quickly shook his head.
Yuan Kui shoved the halberd back into his hands and patted his makeshift shoulder armor.
“I’ll only say this once, listen carefully.”
His voice wasn’t loud, but the circle around him quieted.
“When you get hit, don’t try to brace it, go with the force and fall in the way the crew taught you to protect yourself.”
“This isn’t real fighting, but injuries are real.”
After saying that, he moved on to the next formation.
Jiang Ci did not stay in the lead actors’ rest area.
Sun Zhou had just handed him a cup of hot water, which Jiang Ci waved away.
He had already put on that elaborate and heavy black armor, each piece fitting his body.
Alone, he led the pitch-black warhorse by the reins and slowly walked between the rows of extras.
Sun Zhou’s heart climbed into his throat; he wanted to follow but was held back by a member of the stunt team.
Jiang Ci walked slowly.
He said nothing.
He simply led the horse, passing by extras who were either curious or envious.
The black armor so exquisitely made that every detail was flawless,
the matchless warhorse that kept snorting, the Black Steed,
and Jiang Ci’s face, pale against the biting wind.
Together, they formed an invisible pressure.
The previously noisy extras quieted as he drew near.
People unconsciously made a path for him.
They watched this young man as if the legendary overlord, who once could lift cauldrons, had truly stepped out of two thousand years ago.
On a distant watchtower.
Qin Feng, likewise in full armor, was playing the role of Liu Bang, commander-in-chief of the Han Army.
He held that iconic thermos cup and watched Jiang Ci’s movements with thoughtful interest.
“That kid, he’s using his own way to get into character again.”
Beside him, veteran actor Liu Hanyu, playing Zhang Liang, stroked his long beard and nodded.
“He isn’t acting, he’s telling these thousands of people that he is Xiang Yu. When they charge later, their reactions will be different.”
Qin Feng took a sip of hot tea.
“He’s a madman.”
All departments readied.
“Battle of Pengcheng, Scene One, Take One! Ready!”
The clapper loader’s crisp clap rang out.
Shooting officially began.
The first shot: the Chu cavalry gathered on a high slope.
Jiang Ci vaulted onto his horse and immediately took the lead of the thirteen riders.
Behind him, the twelve top horse stunt riders silently formed the attack formation.
The wind stirred his black cloak.
In the distance stood the Han Army’s encampments stretching for miles.
Jiang Ci slowly drew the bronze sword at his waist; the blade reflected a cold gleam under the overcast light.
He pointed the sword straight toward the distance.
“Swoosh!”
The twelve riders behind him, like extensions of his arm, drew their weapons in unison.
That icy aura of killing intent was captured by long lenses from several camera positions and delivered precisely to every monitor.
Wei Song couldn’t help clenching his fist.
This was it!
According to the script, Xiang Yu had a rousing pre-battle speech here.
Jiang Ci pulled his horse’s head around and faced the dark, dense Chu formation behind him.
He spoke.
“Generals! Troops!”
His voice carried a force that pierced the heart.
“The commander is here!”
“The soldier is here!”
Featured actors playing officers and the front-row extras responded in unison, their voices shaking the plain.
Jiang Ci planted his sword on the saddle and continued to challenge.
“Liu Bang, the old thief, first accepted the Xianyang treaty, then broke the Honggou covenant! While I struck north at the Tian clan, he led five hundred and sixty thousand ragtag men to seize my Pengcheng and plunder my ancestral temples!”
He struck the saddle with his scabbard.
“How shall this hatred be avenged?!”
The actor playing Zhongli Mo, Liu Ji, immediately stepped forward as per script and shouted with raised arm.
“Crush the Han camp! Capture Liu Bang alive!”
Several hundred extras behind him, infected by the atmosphere, let out a thunderous roar.
“Crush the Han camp! Capture Liu Bang alive!”
On horseback, Jiang Ci leaned slightly forward, exuding a disdainful arrogance.
“Good! I have drunk blood with you at Julu and trod upon the bones of Xin’an together! When have we ever feared Liu Bang’s so-called ‘army of benevolence’?”
“Today’s drill, no fancy moves!”
He pointed his sword toward a row of shield formations already prepared not far away.
“We’ll see whose blades are faster, whose spears are sharper, and whose horses can break through the Han camp first!”
A stunt actor playing a commandant immediately stepped forward with a spear and saluted Jiang Ci, offering to test the formation.
“The commander is willing to test the line!”
Jiang Ci nodded.
“Approved!”
“If you can break through the three shield lines, I’ll reward you a hundred gold and promote you to deputy commander!”
“I accept the order!”
The commandant roared, spurred his horse, and charged at the shield wall made up of extras!
Bang!
The spear point accurately pierced a gap in the shields, and the tremendous impact sent the first shield-bearing soldier sprawling!
With a flick of his wrist the spear swept horizontally, knocking down two more soldiers nearby!
The whole sequence was clean and decisive.
Thunderous cheers erupted in the Chu ranks!
Jiang Ci pointed at the chaotic shield wall and shouted to the whole army.
“Generals, look well! Liu Bang’s army is mostly remnants of the six states, a temporary patchwork! Today you break shields; tomorrow you break the Han camp!”
He turned his horse and scanned the army.
“I have selected thirty thousand elite cavalry to raid Pengcheng within three days! Then, whoever first severs the head of a general under Liu Bang will be the hero of the Chu Army!”
Zhongli Mo dropped to one knee and his voice boomed like a bell.
“The commander volunteers to be the vanguard! I will surely present Liu Bang’s head to the camp!”
Jiang Ci leaned over as if to help Zhongli Mo up, but his gaze swept across the rows of faces flushed red with excitement.
“We share life and death!”
“At sunrise tomorrow, we break camp and depart!”
“Let Liu Bang know, this world will ultimately belong to the Chu people! Pengcheng will ultimately be my domain!”
“Chu! Chu! Chu!”
The extras raised their weapons, smashed their shields, and roared wildly.
At that moment.
A cold drop landed on Jiang Ci’s cheek.
It started to rain.
The sky had become overcast before anyone realized it.
Dark clouds rolled in from the horizon at a visible speed.
The head of the weather team’s voice came urgently over the walkie-talkie.
“Director Wei! Director Wei! The pressure has dropped suddenly! Cold air arrived early! We have at most two hours of light! No, maybe not even one hour!”
Wei Song stared at the monitor.
On the monitor was Jiang Ci’s face, carved by wind, rain, and shadow.
Pale, proud, with a broken kind of beauty.
A perfect overlord!
Wei Song grabbed the walkie-talkie and issued orders.
“All departments, attention! All departments! Abandon coverage shots!”
“Prepare A Camera for a long take! B and C cameras follow! Pyrotechnics team, get ready!”
“We’re going to shoot this charge in one go!”
Under the director’s command, the entire crew scrambled into motion.
On the Han Army’s watchtower in the distance, filming proceeded in sync with the script.
Liu Hanyu, playing Zhang Liang, looked at the black-armored rider before the Chu lines and spoke softly to Qin Feng beside him.
“Lord, Xiang Yu intends to finish this in a single decisive action.”
“But watching his formation, his edge is too sharp; what is sharp is easy to break.”
He paused and stared at that solitary figure made more desolate by wind and rain.
“This sharpness… is it a determination to charge forward with no retreat, or… a one-way ticket with no return?”