Chapter 744: The Grand Commander's Inspection

The Grand Commander's inspection required a grand display.

There was no fog today, and the situation on the opposite bank was clear. The river beach was empty, with figures only occasionally appearing in the distant woods.

In fact, their own side was about the same. Dangerous peaks, woodlands, river beaches, and withered grass were all present.

Adjutant Chao Qian pointed out to He Lingchuan: "The terrain on our west bank of the river is mainly low hills, unlike the opposite side which has natural dangerous peaks, easy to defend and hard to attack."

Indeed, their bank was open, and the long grass by the river was lush; of course, it was covered in white snow this season.

He Lingchuan wandered everywhere, spending the longest time in the woods.

The forest covered more than ten qing, and there were no high mountains nearby to overlook it, making it a very good hiding place.

Both harassment attempts from the opposite side had entered the village from here.

Commander Xiao had been hesitant until he left about whether to cut down all these trees.

The locals strongly opposed it. Except for winter, this lush forest could provide them with wood, hunting, wild vegetables, fruits, and mushrooms, making it an important economic source.

He Lingchuan's idea was exactly the opposite of Commander Xiao's: "Keep the forest, cut down all the water grass on the west side of the river beach to ensure the river surface and riverbed are in full view, flatten the grass and trees in the valley, and build two more watchtowers on the back mountain."

This passage would be bare from beginning to end; if anyone came or went, it would be in full view from high ground. Without the cover of grass and trees, the enemy wouldn't be able to disguise themselves so easily.

By then, hang a few fluorescent spores, and there would be no fear of anyone lurking in at night.

Chao Qian said: "This road is wide open, the Jin Tao people won't like it and will walk through the woods."

One side was unobstructed, and the other side had more than ten qing of lush forest; whether by instinct or tactics, the small groups of harassing enemy troops would definitely choose the latter with cover.

"Doesn't that fall right into our trap?" He Lingchuan asked him. "Who was the original mountain spirit here?"

"A group of wolf demons. They also contributed in the previous battles."

"Dismiss them. I have asked Deputy Envoy Wen to appoint another." He Lingchuan pointed backward, and Chao Qian saw several flatbed carts joined together, carrying a large tree.

The tree was about six zhang high, not prominent in this forest, but its bark was cracked and covered with blue-white spots, proof that it had once been covered with moss and ferns.

He Lingchuan knocked on the tree trunk, which sounded metallic rather than wooden.

"Eh, isn't this the old elm demon at the city gate?" Chao Qian found it familiar and slapped his forehead in realization. "When we attacked Yuheng City, it even helped the Xiji people deal with us."

"Those who know the times are heroes. The day the city fell, it surrendered to us, otherwise it would have been burned as firewood long ago," He Lingchuan smiled. "Some people don't even have as much sense as this tree."

The soldiers stepped forward to dig a large pit to bury the roots for the old tree.

In winter, the ground was frozen hard, and the shovels couldn't dig. But this bunch of people acted wildly, first digging a small pit to bury explosives, then detonating them.

Bury again, detonate again.

After several such explosions, a large pit three zhang deep was finished.

The crowd supported the tree and filled in the soil, and it was planted in no time.

Some careful ones even shoveled snow over to sprinkle it finely.

In winter, there were no leaves, and this old tree bared its fangs and brandished its claws. He Lingchuan patted the tree trunk; hmm, quite sturdy.

He read the appointment on the spot and then took out his official seal and stamped it on the tree trunk. "From today on, you are the mountain spirit of the Yin River valley, with a jurisdiction of one hundred miles."

The mountain wind whistled, producing a strange sound; the crowd listened carefully, as if they could hear the two words "obey orders."

In just two or three days, all the trees in the jurisdiction could become its eyes and ears.

This was one of the reasons why the northern demon kingdoms liked to appoint old tree demons as mountain spirits; He Lingchuan felt it made a lot of sense and it wouldn't hurt to learn from others' advanced experience.

He Lingchuan further ordered: "Every fifteen days, take four fresh branches and place them in water bottles in the quiet room, in the four directions of east, south, west, and north. Whichever direction's branch moves without wind, that is the direction from which the enemy is attacking."

With this old tree demon here, the enemy's invasion of the river forest would not escape the garrison's ears and eyes.

"By the way, recruit another batch of bird demons. Owls and eagle-owls with night vision are best. Human eyes are far inferior to theirs at night," Beijia was full of these things, which had caused great obstacles to his escape. "I remember there are a few nests of bird demons nearby?"

Humans couldn't stay by the cold riverside for long, but these wild demons could.

Chao Qian noted them down one by one.

In fact, the foundation laid by Commander Xiao for He Lingchuan, his successor, was very good; all military affairs in Yuheng City were proceeding in an orderly manner, and he almost didn't need to make any changes. Especially the first batch of recruited soldiers had finished their initial training and could be put into tasks.

The problem was that after the army was reorganized, the combat power was not apparent, and the quantity was insufficient.

With only a little over a thousand, they had to guard the border, defend the city, and patrol the trade routes to the south, which was clearly stretched thin.

He Lingchuan had no particularly good way to deal with this; one couldn't become fat in one bite, and a hundred-battle army wasn't forged in a day.

Fortunately, General Hong had captured Yuheng City at lightning speed and seized the granary in the first instance, not letting the Xiji people burn it down; after another autumn harvest, the food supply was sufficient this winter, and the young men in the military camp could eat meat every two days.

Just for this kind of food, many people signed up to join the army.

He Lingchuan finished his military duties and went home; on the way, he passed the Martial Training Hall and heard exclamations and roars coming from there.

The exclamations were from civilians.

He was very familiar with the roars; they were Meng Shan's.

The Panlongcheng tradition of martial arts competitions had also been brought here by the Great Wind Army. The two sets of arenas were only built yesterday, and today someone was itching to challenge on stage.

Among the twenty people He Lingchuan asked for from General Hong, Meng Shan was one.

When he walked over, he happened to see Meng Shan perform a shoulder throw, smashing an unknown unlucky guy until he was dizzy.

The onlookers all covered their mouths, but He Lingchuan saw that the poor kid was still alive, his neck wasn't broken, and his internal injuries weren't severe; he was just lying on the ground groaning and couldn't get up for a long time.

After joining the Great Wind Army, Meng Shan wasn't as violent as before and began to understand restraint.

The martial arts competition in the other set of arenas was much gentler.

The martial arts here also adopted a point system; winners could exchange for their favorite equipment and supplies at the armory—of course, there was also money. The military and civilians of Yuheng City hadn't tried this way of playing before and were now actively signing up.

The street shops on the side were rushing to work, standing on the bustling street, and He Lingchuan felt the feeling of when he first entered Panlongcheng:

Flourishing, full of vitality.

Returning home, the sky was getting dark.

He Lingchuan patted the snow powder off his head, and just as he took off his cloak, he heard a splash of water next door.

"Master Sun?" What was the master doing? Sun Fuling's voice came through the wall: "Ah, come over quickly!"

Go over now? He Lingchuan hesitated for a moment, jumped lightly, supported his hand on the wall, and flipped over with a somersault.

The wall here was much higher than the wooden houses in Panlongcheng, but he was already used to not taking the main door.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 745 =====