[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-shao-song":3,"chapter-shao-song-shao-song-chapter-231":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Shao Song",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1558397,2024,"Chapter 231: Skilled in Archery","shao-song-chapter-231",231,"\u003Cp>Wu Jie felt the temperature of his helmet, launched a sudden assault with cold steel, won a great victory over the Jin army, then pursued and killed for several li, burned their camp, and returned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the battle, the momentum of both sides was reversed, to say nothing of it. Wanyan Salihe, who had fled to the second camp at Huagou and only stopped his rout with the support of Han'er army crossbowmen, felt his heart turn cold even as his body burned with heat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because by now, he was very certain that he could not capture Fangzhou City within the deadline, that is, before tomorrow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn't because of this battlefield rout.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be fair, losing a battle really wasn't a big deal, and being chased like a rabbit wasn't a big deal either. \"Victory and defeat are common in war\" was truly a battlefield maxim... If we're talking about being chased like a rabbit, hadn't Wu Jie been the same several times before?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who was it that lost three battles in a row and fled all the way here?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Defeated? Next time, just learn from Wu Jie's example of knowing shame and then fighting back to win.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So the problem wasn't about the future, but about the present: when the defenders, who held the advantage of terrain, dared to counterattack, dared to fight with cold steel, and even won, it meant that the defenders' morale and army spirit had reached a certain level of fullness. At this point, trying to take the city through intimidation and non-attrition methods seemed laughable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And with Fangzhou City in this state, if it came to pure attrition, how many lives would have to be fed in? How much time would it take?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Salihe couldn't just retreat empty-handed either... Being laughed at by Tuhusu and the others upon returning wasn't a big deal; the key was that he still had the military order to take the city in three days!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he went back like this and angered Loushi, who would actually have him beheaded to uphold military law? Who could save him?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, he also dared not try to cover up today's defeat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, at dusk, Salihe steeled himself and sent a message to the Hekou main camp, explaining the battle situation and requesting the next \"instructions\"... His exact words were to request General Commander Loushi to come and give him \"tactical guidance.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And when night fell that day, Loushi indeed sent back instructions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The three-day deadline hasn't arrived, no new orders, just follow the previous order?\" Salihe was dumbfounded. \"That means I'm to continue attacking the mountain and taking the city?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's probably what it means?\" Wanyan Mouyan didn't look at Salihe, his gaze instead drifting, drawn by the chaos of the wounded Jin soldiers and deserters around him, clearly tasked with observing the military situation. \"Father Commander only said these words.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Salihe was completely speechless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mouyan didn't linger either. Seeing this, he gave a slight bow, then went into the camp to inquire with a few familiar officers before directly returning to the Hekou main camp that same night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That night aside, the next morning, Salihe assembled his troops and turned back west again, preparing to carry out the military order. He dared not actually test Loushi's patience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, as this Cold-Faced Lord once again marched toward Fangzhou City, he first saw the burned-out remains of his own camp. His heart was already full of helplessness. But when he passed that destroyed camp and reached the area of yesterday's main battlefield, he actually felt a sense of fear... It turned out that when the Song army withdrew, they naturally hadn't forgotten to clean the battlefield. The armor, clothing, and weapons on the Jin corpses had been stripped almost bare. Not only that, but the heads of almost every corpse had also been cut off for military merit, leaving headless, naked bodies scattered everywhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no help for it. On the battlefield, this kind of situation was expected. It was just that the Song army, knowing their own weakness in field combat and fearing a counterattack, hadn't had time to concentrate and cremate or bury the bodies, which made it look so messy and barbaric. If it had been the Jin army, they would have been even worse. Because the Jin army, as the invaders, often carried out large-scale, systematic massacres of cities and towns after battles to intimidate and plunder, and then frequently burned designated fortresses and cities to the ground, even engaging in large-scale slave-taking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Salihe knew very well that he had no right to call the Song army's actions barbaric.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, back to the present, as the Jin army gathered and cremated their own dead along the way, the troops' mentality inevitably changed greatly as they marched while witnessing this scene. After all, usually they were the ones doing this kind of thing to intimidate others. Today, encountering it themselves, they realized they were no different from the enemies they had intimidated before... They would feel the same fear, the same hatred, the same numbness, the same bewilderment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was just the thinking of ordinary soldiers. For the officers or Salihe, this psychological torment didn't stop there... Before even advancing to the city, Salihe already found himself in a dilemma.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This Jin army Battalion Commander clearly knew it was impossible to take the Song army's position in a short time, but because of the strict military order from Loushi behind him, he had to personally push his own men back into this death channel! And these people, these living, breathing people, would very likely become those headless, naked corpses again!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn't that Salihe was overly sentimental. He had grown up following Aguda, then Nianhan, then Loushi. He had only ever needed to follow orders and charge on horseback to enjoy the glory of victory. He had never needed to consider the consequences of defeat. He had never imagined encountering such a thing. He had always been the one trampling on others' lives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, at the moment of battle, for an instant, Wanyan Salihe hesitated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reason and the military education he had received since childhood told him that just to maintain the fearless posture of the Great Jin army and the morale of this campaign, the lives of a few soldiers were insignificant, not to mention the pressure from military law and the commander-in-chief. But yesterday's defeat and the heavy casualties suffered in just two days still instilled fear in this youngest Battalion Commander of the Western Route Army.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This fear wasn't a personal fear of death, but a commander's momentary loss of composure on the field... It might be better tomorrow, but today, he was lost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Battalion Commander...\" Someone cautiously stepped forward to remind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Launch an attack first, before it gets hot.\" Wanyan Salihe, seeing his subordinate take the initiative to ask, gave a sudden start, then forcibly restored his Cold-Faced Lord demeanor and made the most rational, most appropriate decision. \"Three mouke...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Three mouke will certainly be useless.\" The subordinate reminded him seriously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then... five!\" Salihe took a deep breath, as if making some kind of determination, and gave the order loudly. \"Five mouke. Have those who didn't participate in the last two days draw lots to go up! Take all the remaining large shields! Have the Han'er army go up too, with the remaining divine arm crossbows following behind, to provide cover by exchanging fire with the Song at the foot of the mountain!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There aren't enough shields...\" The subordinate reminded him cautiously again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Those without shields, take wooden planks!\" Salihe immediately became stern. \"If there aren't enough planks either, then wear double-layered armor!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The military order was clear and resolute, even showing a degree of wisdom and momentum. As the saying goes, the general is the army's courage. For a moment, the Jin army from top to bottom also displayed a certain spirit of sacrifice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, about five hundred Jin armored soldiers, either carrying shields and planks and wielding short weapons, or wearing double-layered iron armor and holding strong bows, along with one or two hundred so-called Han'er army soldiers from the surrendered Zhe family, carrying crossbows, followed behind. Driven by the Jin army's extremely strict discipline, they surged to the front of that \"death road\" and then advanced with shields raised at a pace noticeably slower than the previous two days... But unexpectedly, this time, the Song army did not launch an attack from afar. Instead, they greeted this unprecedented saturation attack with an eerie silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But without a doubt, everyone knew that the Song army's crossbow bolts would arrive sooner or later. This plunged the Jin army into a state of severe timidity, their pace growing slower and slower. The atmosphere, which had briefly lifted, became oppressively heavy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Salihe's mood also became increasingly unbearable under this extreme oppression, but he kept his expression taut, offering no words or gestures of urging.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, what was meant to come always came.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A quarter of an hour later, the Jin army surged to the foot of the mountain and began to climb. Although the mountain top in front of the Song army camp was crowded with heads, they still did not loose their bolts. This spurred the well-trained Jin soldiers, encouraged by their commanders, to burst forward rapidly. Four or five hundred armored soldiers and the Han'er army crossbowmen holding the rear climbed the mountain recklessly, trying to break into the camp... This situation continued until a Puliyan wearing double-layered iron armor raised his bow and shot upward, wounding a Song soldier behind the crossbow emplacement above with a single arrow. Only then did it stop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only at this moment did a team of over a hundred Song divine arm crossbowmen, holding their cocked crossbows, appear diagonally above the Jin army in a formation even more orderly and composed than the previous two days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Jin army, attacking uphill, reacted almost immediately. After climbing another step or two, almost all the soldiers carrying shields hurriedly raised them, while those without shields took the opportunity to duck under the shields... And sure enough, as soon as the shields were set up, the Song army above naturally executed a volley with their divine arm crossbows. Over a hundred crossbow bolts, aided by the crossbow's own force and the added power of gravity, drove straight down into the Jin army's heads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The distance was too close!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Except for a very few metal shields, the vast majority of wooden shields and planks were penetrated on the first impact. A few unlucky ones caught bolts directly through the gaps in the shields, dying or being wounded, but essentially pinned to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wails instantly drowned out the encouraging shouts of the Jin commanders, which had carried a hint of excitement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, even with the commanders' voices drowned out, the Jin army's excellent tactical discipline prompted these men to rise quickly the moment the volley ended, preparing to use the gap while the Song army reloaded to get as close as possible and break into the camp. This was the closest they had ever been to the Song divine arm crossbow team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, just as they threw open their shields, another volley of bolts arrived unexpectedly. This time, the caught-off-guard Jin army immediately suffered unprecedented heavy casualties. The wails at the front of the formation instantly shook everyone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But there was no time to think. In just a moment, with another volley of bolts flying down, the wailing actually decreased considerably, as many men were shot dead on the spot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that wasn't all. The Jin soldiers at the rear, seeing what the Song army above was doing, panicked completely. Driven by fear, they abandoned the attack and, disregarding the harsh military law, tried to turn and flee. But unexpectedly, the Song army's fourth volley had already arrived. This volley was concentrated and fired directly at the foot of the mountain. Coordinated with the bed crossbows fired from the city wall across the river at the right moment, it directly suppressed the Jin soldiers trying to flee.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What followed, plunging all the Jin soldiers huddled on the mountainside, at the foot of the mountain, and even those watching from afar into a state of utter terror, was that the Song army's rain of divine arm crossbow bolts at this frequency didn't stop for a moment. It was truly like rain, evenly and densely scattered, even with a clear rhythm, pressing from front to back, firmly trapping the several hundred Jin soldiers under the rain of bolts, slaughtering them swiftly and relentlessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This abnormal situation soon alarmed Salihe. The young Jin Battalion Commander, hearing the sound of the bolts from afar, already sensed something was wrong. Disregarding the danger, he personally climbed a small hill to observe. After watching for a moment, he slumped down in shock and was practically dragged down the hill by his personal guards... What he had seen clearly from up there was that, at the front of the mountain-top camp, which was visible at a glance, the Song army had adopted a simple yet practical rotating volley tactic that they had previously held back and not used.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several hundred crossbowmen were divided into three ranks. The front rank volleyed, the rear rank cocked. When the front rank finished firing, the rank behind immediately stepped forward, while another rank, already assisted by specialized support troops at the very rear, had finished recocking and loading their crossbows... The three ranks alternated, stepping forward in turn to volley as the commander waved his flags, sometimes aiming at the Jin soldiers trying to flee to the rear, sometimes at the brave men trying to advance to the front. The bolts were dense, pinning the several hundred Jin soldiers who had entered the killing zone at the foot of the mountain, unable to move, forced to wait passively for death!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn't some particularly brilliant or difficult tactic, but its effectiveness was immediately clear to Salihe, who had grown up in the military, with just one look.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, the problem was that no matter how clear Salihe was, he couldn't change the fate of his own soldiers being slaughtered by this execution-style attack!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Days of continuous fighting, days of continuous casualties, the failed night attack the day before yesterday, being counterattacked by the Song army yesterday, seeing headless naked corpses scattered along the road today, and then encountering this ambush... The young Salihe could no longer hold on. He burst into loud sobs behind the small hill. The Jin Battalion Commander, who had been forcing himself to be the Cold-Faced Lord, instantly became the Weeping Lord.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But none of the surrounding Jin officers laughed at him. Some even wept along with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And so, before noon, the several hundred Jin soldiers were effectively slaughtered by the Song army. The Jin army had suffered unprecedented casualties... In the previous two days, including yesterday's rout, the Jin army had only lost five or six hundred men, with more being wounded. But on this day, facing the revelation of the Song army's final trump card, the Jin army lost five or six hundred men in a single engagement, completely losing their will to fight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By now, at least on the front line, no one thought about capturing this city, this mountain, or this camp anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having wept his fill, Salihe wiped away his tears and ordered the entire army to withdraw to a safe distance. He also set up crossbows and bows, forming a defensive formation, and then sent a messenger to the Hekou main camp for the third time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, Wu Jie did not attempt another assault. On the contrary, he had his soldiers throw down heads—both those gathered yesterday and those freshly severed—from the mountain to enrage the Jin army, but no Jin soldier came forth to fight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Loushi likewise did not press Salih to continue the attack. Instead, he and the deputy commander, Wanyan Balisu, personally led several thousand men to arrive here just before dusk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Loushi inquired about the battle situation and surveyed the terrain and battlefield from a safe distance. He neither harshly criticized Salih nor offered any comfort, but immediately sent a surrendered general to urge surrender, promising Wu Jie the post of Military Governor of both Jingyuan and Huanqing Circuits, and his younger brother Wu Lin the post of Military Governor of Yanfu Circuit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The surrendered general hurried off and hurried back. Unsurprisingly, Wu Jinqing rejected the offer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He said that if we want him to surrender, Commander Loushi must first defeat him in single combat.\" The surrendered general's face was pale, clearly deeply shaken by the dense pile of Jin heads and corpses along the road.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's not impossible...\" Loushi smiled faintly, seemingly about to agree.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But immediately, as Balisu stared at him in shock, Loushi regained his clarity and shook his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through this exchange, everyone could see that this undefeated Jin general was not as composed as he appeared on the surface. He too had been shaken by Wu Jie's unfathomable killing methods and resolve for war, and he had realized that taking this city in the short term was indeed hopeless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet as the commander, Loushi also understood how great an impact this thorn driven into such a sensitive position would have on his strategy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, for that instant, Loushi was truly driven to the point of wanting to kill Wu Jie through single combat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What do you think?\" Coming back to his senses and ignoring his brief lapse, Loushi asked Balisu seriously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Unless it rains and renders the Song army's divine-arm crossbows useless, we'll have to trade lives for their crossbow bolt reserves,\" Balisu replied frankly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It won't rain for the next few days.\" Loushi shook his head repeatedly, then immediately ordered Salih, who still bore tear stains on his face, \"Try one last time...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Salih was almost in despair, but then he burst into tears again on the spot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'm not telling you to attack the mountain again, but to set it on fire.\" Loushi pointed casually at the mountain to the north. \"See if the fire can force them down.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Salih, relieved, immediately accepted the order and left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as he was gone, Balisu turned to Loushi with a grave expression: \"Burning the mountain will likely be useless... That stockade is clearly visible from afar. They've cleared the surrounding trees, and there's not much wind right now. The flames won't reach them, and even the smoke will hardly choke them out.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I know.\" Loushi gripped his horse's reins tightly, not even looking at Balisu. \"But is there a second option now?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Balisu was silent for a moment before speaking again: \"Then let them burn the mountain... but we should make a decision soon! If this city can't be taken quickly, can we still pass through Yaozhou and Huazhou?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, it was Loushi's turn to fall silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And so, the two men stood their horses at a safe distance of six or seven hundred paces from Fangzhou city and that mountain, each silent, watching as the fire started from the hill around Little Bridge Mountain, then rapidly grew with the help of the summer heat, scorching half the sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once the great fire started, it was unstoppable, rolling across the surrounding hills, becoming a natural disaster. But as Balisu had said, the wind was light that day, and Wu Jie had prepared well. Though the flames were fierce, they never licked the well-defended stockade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only that, but Wu Jie, upon seeing the commotion, immediately responded by having his soldiers carefully set fire on the other side of the cleared firebreak, creating a counter-burn zone to take refuge. This measure quickly took effect, as the fire easily swept over the nearest hill and then burned straight into the deep forest to the north.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Loushi watched from afar for a while, saw the flames pass by, and finally let out a soft sigh in his heart. Without further hesitation, he turned his horse's head and rode east, but then suddenly reined in and looked back: \"Yelu Ma Wu's swift attack on Baishui has succeeded. Have Salih lead five thousand men plus the wounded from this battle to hold the camp at Hekou. We're moving forward!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Balisu calculated the troop numbers in his mind, his face darkening, but he said nothing. He only glanced at the unmoved stockade before turning and following directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you saying that the reason these Western Army generals are so timid and afraid to speak their true minds before me is because I often touch my knife during military councils?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside Chang'an city, Zhao Jiu, the Emperor, who was completely unaware of Wu Jie's shame-driven courage, successful defense of Fangzhou, and great victory, drew his bow and nocked an arrow while frowning at Yang Yizhong beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke, though he didn't even look at the target, the arrow in his hand flew out and struck the bullseye dead center.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Yizhong watched the flying arrow, momentarily stunned, but quickly recovered and replied seriously: \"For Your Majesty's information, this is indeed what I have heard...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But why would that be?\" Even so, Zhao Jiu still found it hard to understand. He drew his bow and nocked another arrow while continuing to frown. \"I don't recall often touching my knife back then... I haven't even worn a knife all day today.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I venture to say, perhaps because in the past few days Your Majesty's usual bow was not at hand and you hadn't practiced archery, and being newly arrived in Guanzhong with anxiety, you unconsciously kept touching your sword?\" Yang Yizhong replied carefully. \"And today, Your Majesty has resumed archery practice, so you no longer wear a knife.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Jiu instinctively accepted this reasoning, nodded, and set down his bow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next moment, just as Yang Yizhong was about to say something more, the Emperor suddenly raised his bow and loosed an arrow, shooting a crow that was looking around on the eaves, sending it tumbling to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such superb archery—anyone had to admit that this Emperor was indeed skilled with the bow.\u003C\u002Fp>",3704,"2026-06-06T07:46:04.529Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","07f7f35b568f63d98ba84278cc7a7649be89bad916381c6bcc1f27595f1cd592","shao-song-chapter-232","shao-song-chapter-230",489,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fshao-song-cover.jpg"]