Chapter 1511

Whistles sounded across the river beach, and everyone became tense. The main military tent was lifted, and the deputy general accompanying Bai Mojie ran out to give orders: "Prepare fire arrows! Prepare to defend the beachhead!"

Bai Mojie had fallen, and his rank was the highest, so it was only right for him to act on behalf of the military authority.

Lu Wushuang, however, said: "The other side may not necessarily be starting a war."

The deputy general didn't want to pay attention to her, but someone asked: "What do you mean?"

Lu Wushuang pointed to the river: "Do you see the flags? The main ship is sailing at the very front; does this look like an attack?"

Whether in land or water warfare, the highest commander rarely charges at the front line.

Reminded by her, everyone looked closely, and wasn't that the case?

Once a battle starts, the main ship sailing at the very front would bear the brunt of the attack.

However, before sunrise, the river mist was drifting, and the Beijia generals were in a state of high agitation, so few noticed this point.

Lu Wushuang casually pulled out a signaling arrow, blew on it, then bent her bow and shot it out with a 'whoosh.'

However, she shot it toward the sky, and the arrow flew in a parabola with a sharp whistling sound before landing right in front of the enemy's main ship and piercing into the water.

The water surface immediately churned up a red mist, filling the bow of the ship.

This was a warning signal: no one was to come closer.

A person climbed out of the cabin, looked at the red mist at the bow, and clicked their tongue twice: "Mirage mist? It's been a long time since I've seen this. Which one are you in the Beijia army?"

The red mist rolled, quickly revealing a blurred human face; the river wind was howling, but it couldn't blow it away.

"Qinggong, Lu Wushuang. Who are you, sir?"

She herself was more than seventy zhang away from the main ship, but the red mist could convey her voice for her.

In the Beijia army, the deputy general now held the highest rank, but he didn't have this skill, so Lu Wushuang became the one to step forward.

"My surname is Xin." This person, naturally, was Xin Yi. "Is General Bai still alive? I seemed to see him struck in the face by an arrow just now."

He spoke in a carefree manner.

Lu Wushuang remained calm: "General Bai is naturally fine. Where is your General He?"

If he's fine, why isn't he coming out? It seems Bai Mojie is indeed severely injured. Xin Yi laughed: "General He entrusted me to ask: if you are willing to hand over those three Spiral-Armored Worms, the Yuheng army will immediately turn around and go ashore, and we can both be at peace; if not..."

He beckoned, and the dozens of ship bows behind him were filled with soldiers, all drawing their bows in unison, aiming at the east bank of the great river.

The light of the arrowheads was also murderous against the dim background of the river.

The meaning was very clear: if you don't accept a toast, you'll have to accept a forfeit. If you don't hand over the Spiral-Armored Worms, both sides will have to have a third confrontation tonight.

The Beijia army immediately grabbed their shields, surrounding and protecting their generals.

Lu Wushuang, however, said: "Oh? General He is interested in things from my Qinggong?"

Xin Yi was two parts surprised upon hearing this: "The Spiral-Armored Worms are treasures of the Qinggong?"

"Correct." Lu Wushuang's answer was exceptionally slow, almost weighing every word: "This is one of the Qinggong's great treasures; I have no authority to give it away. If General He wants this treasure, he must come and take it himself!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the archers in the back row of the Beijia army also bent their bows and notched arrows, and the atmosphere of a great battle was once again on the verge of breaking out.

Xin Yi stared at the red mist, as if judging the truth of her words.

The next dozen or so breaths felt exceptionally long to everyone.

But Xin Yi finally waved his hand, and the Yuheng soldiers were the first to put away their bows and arrows.

"We shall meet again, Executive Assistant Lu."

The boats turned around and sailed back to the west bank.

The alarm was lifted.

Seeing this, the Beijia army on the shore also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

They had been fighting for most of the night, back and forth, very intensely. Dawn had broken, and everyone was exhausted and wanted a good rest.

If someone had told them a month ago that a rustic army would entangle them for more than twenty days without a winner, they would have scoffed.

Now, they were just glad they didn't have to fight during the day.

Only the generals had particularly complex feelings.

Xin Yi returned to the west bank of the great river, jumped onto the river beach, and saw He Lingchuan.

"Why did you stop fighting again? I thought you wanted to settle the score with them tonight."

"I did have that thought, but then I thought, we've already won a great victory tonight, so we might as well quit while we're ahead." He Lingchuan had indeed changed his mind temporarily on the river. "After suffering this major defeat, the opposing army already feels humiliated; if we raid the camp again and slap them in the face, I'm afraid they'll be driven to desperate measures."

After all, the Beijia's combat power was there, not like the Xiluo army. The east bank was their territory, and if the Yuheng army wanted to kill a thousand enemies, they would have to lose at least seven or eight hundred themselves.

Such a trade-off didn't seem worth it when you thought about it.

Of course, He Lingchuan wouldn't tell the truth; he had seen Lu Wushuang step forward and had backed down because of that.

Lu Wushuang was originally just a Xiluo supervisor, but after Bai Mojie was severely injured, she represented the Beijia army to talk to Xin Yi.

Did she seize the opportunity to take power?

He Lingchuan attacked the east bank of the great river because he wanted to take advantage of the Beijia army being leaderless; if Lu Wushuang were to take over the command of the Beijia army's battle, then tonight's fight was not worth it.

Lu Wushuang was only in her twenties at this time, but He Lingchuan had no doubt that her methods were superior to Bai Mojie's.

He would definitely test Lu Wushuang's mettle, but not today.

Besides, he had just seen the Beijia army's appearance, and they had been quite invigorated upon returning to the east bank of the great river. The saying "do not pursue a desperate enemy" made sense at this time.

Xin Yi looked at him, his eyes filled with disbelief.

But he didn't intend to get to the bottom of it, just raising another question: "Why did you ask for the Spiral-Armored Worms?"

You could imagine that Beijia couldn't give them.

"I wanted to test what was going on with the Spiral-Armored Worms that appeared suddenly tonight. Bai Mojie had been attacking for a long time without success, but he dragged it out until tonight to use them." This question could be answered. "So, they weren't his treasure."

They were the Qinggong's.

In other words, they were brought out by Lu Wushuang.

"A few days ago, the Xiluo army was sent to Jin Tao to suppress the rebellion and just returned tonight. It's evident that Lu Wushuang brought out the Spiral-Armored Worms before she left, but Bai Mojie didn't bring them out until tonight." Xin Yi pondered. "This thing consumes profound crystals too fiercely; I reckon even Bai Mojie didn't dare use it easily."

"Even the Beijia army couldn't bear to use it?"

"Yes. One Spiral-Armored Worm at full operation consumes three light-red profound crystals in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea."

He Lingchuan couldn't help but say "Holy crap," who on earth invented such an extravagant thing? Xin Yi continued: "But this thing is good for sneak attacks, and it's also a powerful weapon on an open battlefield, like the river embankment right now. If a city activates an escape barrier, it can't break in either."

He Lingchuan nodded repeatedly: "Low cost-effectiveness."

He was meticulous even when fighting, wishing he could split a single copper coin into eight pieces.

"Is Lu Wushuang so concerned about the big picture, lending such a great treasure as the Spiral-Armored Worms to Bai Mojie? Just when Bai Mojie sent her off to suppress the Jin Tao rebellion? Heh!" This didn't match the Qingyang that He Lingchuan knew. "But regardless, Bai Mojie used his trump card and still suffered a major defeat; Beijia might have to adjust its strategy."

"Once the other side changes, our days ahead won't be easy either." He stretched. "So, now it's our turn to make a move."

Bai Mojie was severely injured, and the Beijia army was unable to attack the west of the river again, but the Jin Tao front line couldn't enter a peaceful period either, because—

The Yuheng army turned from defense to offense, attacking frequently!

The offense and defense on both sides of the great river were swapped.

In addition to head-on attacks, the Yuheng army had an advantage that the Beijia army couldn't match: it could send out detachments to sneak from Longchuan to the enemy's rear—the water of Longchuan came from within Jin Tao and was connected by water to the great river at the border.

These small teams, in addition to daily harassment of the Beijia camp, killing guards, and intercepting grain, could also coordinate with the Yuheng army's frontal attacks.

Bai Mojie had always wanted to do the same in reverse, but failed repeatedly because Longchuan had long been firmly controlled by Yuheng City, making it difficult for outsiders to intervene.

In fact, it wasn't just Longchuan; the entire Maohe Plain had been managed by Yuheng City into a single solid block.

This was the landlord's advantage; no matter how fierce the frontal attacks on Yuheng City were, it wouldn't be caught in a pincer attack.

He Lingchuan had fought wits and courage with Fu Shanlie for more than a year, personally eliminating the Longchuan water bandits, and the Yuheng soldiers and civilians had bled and sweated before they gained such a precious advantage.

Although the Beijia army was far superior to the water bandits in both individual quality and overall combat power, no one felt comfortable living through days of harassment during the day and fierce attacks at night for five or seven days in a row.

The Beijia soldiers were yawning by day, and the atmosphere in the military camp became increasingly oppressive. If people don't rest well, their will weakens, their tempers become irritable, and their fears are magnified; the Xiluo army and the Beijia army had repeatedly broken out into internal strife and fighting, and added to the major defeat a few days ago, this was the lowest point since the troops entered the Jin Tao front line.

This was the effect He Lingchuan wanted: on one hand, to wear down the enemy's already limited supplies, and on the other hand, to seize the time to strike the enemy, further rubbing the opponent's confidence into the ground.

An army without conviction or confidence is no longer scary, even if it comes from Beijia.

During Bai Mojie's severe injury, the deputy general acted on behalf of the military authority and commanded better than Bai Mojie, but an army without a commander-in-chief has almost no soul, and the morale of the Beijia army never rose.

Furthermore, the food problem was still stuck in the army's throat. Could the deputy general successfully solve a problem that even Bai Mojie couldn't handle?

Lu Wushuang had frequent insights in military discussions, which the deputy general was unwilling to adopt. But everyone discovered afterward that Executive Assistant Lu's words often came true! Several generals secretly asked her for advice and indeed avoided many losses in battle.

The division within the army began quietly.

Meanwhile, Yuheng City was not idle, fighting while rebuilding the North Auxiliary City, further strengthening its defensive fortifications, and at the same time stepping up the optimization of auxiliary cities, camp cities, warehouses, and trading posts on the Maohe Plain, strengthening road patrols.

After He Lingchuan pacified Longchuan, Yuheng City fully controlled the Maohe Plain, successively building eleven camp cities of various sizes on the plain; except for the two near Yuheng City, the others were no different from ordinary cities, collecting military and civilian resources, storing supplies, and repairing transportation, thereby expanding influence to the entire plain from points to areas.

The trading posts and relay stations on the Longchuan trade route could all turn into strongholds during wartime.

The above were all major projects, repaired and stopped for more than two years, most of which had already been put into use, and now the last two or three were also in the finishing stages.