Chapter 93: The Test

The next day.

Zhao Xu, Liu Fu, and Chang Wei rode their horses to the entrance of Fushi Village.

Following behind the two of them were over three hundred Cavalry.

Each of these Cavalry wore light armor similar to that of the Northern Di people, and held an Explosive Stick in their hands to replace a Cavalry Saber.

Liu Fu had already explained the rules to the Village Soldiers yesterday: stop at the point of contact.

Likewise, Chang Wei had also told the soldiers that being struck by an Explosive Stick was the same as being struck by a saber, and they could not continue to fight normally.

"Your Highness, this humble general believes that a hundred or so men would be enough; three hundred is a bit like bullying the commoners," Chang Wei chuckled.

Although his personality was straightforward, he was not rigid, and he often joked and teased Zhao Xu, Liu Fu, and the others.

"Don't get cocky yet; we don't know who will lose face," Chang Wei's arrogant appearance made Liu Fu feel particularly annoyed.

"Whether it's a mule or a horse, you have to lead it out to see," Chang Wei never gave way to Liu Fu.

Zhao Xu wore a smile; he was still full of anticipation for this test.

He said: "Whoever loses, pays for the Wine. Let's begin."

Chang Wei nodded, raised his hand and waved it forward, and the three hundred Cavalry galloped toward Fushi Village simultaneously.

Among them, the one in the lead was Chen Hu.

After establishing the Cavalry, Chang Wei had transferred Chen Hu into the Cavalry Battalion and let him serve as a Camp Colonel.

During the last attack on the Huang Family and the battle at Qingfeng Pass, Chen Hu had performed very bravely.

Deeply favored by Chang Wei, and with his accumulated merits, he was made a Cavalry Colonel to be trained as a Cavalry commander.

At that moment, the Cavalry charged into Fushi Village.

But what left them dumbfounded was that, looking around, there was not a single person in the village.

"Colonel, what is going on here?" The Cavalry gathered in the center of the village, their faces full of confusion.

Before coming, they had not received any news about the village.

They also did not know what had happened in the village.

They only had one mission, which was to find the grain and forage and bring it out of Fushi Village.

"This isn't a joke, is it? If there's no one here, who are we supposed to fight?" another soldier said.

Chen Hu frowned, "It's impossible for there to be no one. His Highness wouldn't have the time to joke with us. Dismount, search house by house. You few go over there, you few go over there..."

After giving the order, Chen Hu took the remaining Cavalry and circled the village a few more times, but indeed, not a single shadow could be seen.

Returning to the center of the village, he simply dismounted and led the soldiers to search the houses one by one.

Arriving at a thatched cottage, he scanned it; the things inside were all complete, but it was likewise empty.

"Search for the grain," Chen Hu ordered; their mission was to find the grain and forage.

Upon receiving his order, the ten or so soldiers behind him began rummaging through the house.

But they searched a circle and found nothing.

"Ouch!" Just at this moment, Chen Hu suddenly heard a scream coming from not far away.

He immediately rushed out of the house and ran toward the source of the sound.

That was also an ordinary thatched cottage; at this time, three soldiers inside were looking at them with helpless expressions.

On their necks, there was a red mark on each.

This meant they had been killed.

Although the three soldiers knew where the person who had just attacked them had gone, under the rules, they could not say.

"What on earth is going on?" The soldiers following behind Chen Hu felt their scalps tingle.

They hadn't even seen a shadow, yet they had already lost three men.

Just as they were feeling frustrated, they heard a few more screams.

Successively, some soldiers came out from various places with dejected expressions.

They stopped in the center of the village, counting as "dead."

"Get everyone to concentrate." Losing fifty or sixty men in the blink of an eye, Chen Hu immediately felt that something was wrong.

Clearly, being dispersed to face the enemy was very disadvantageous for them.

"They must be hiding somewhere in the village. Find them for me," Chen Hu shouted.

By this time, the soldiers had completely let go of their contempt.

This was just an exercise, but if it were a real war, and they had come to such an unfamiliar village, the soldiers would have been terrified into losing their fighting spirit.

Receiving his order, the two hundred or so men quickly gathered together.

Chen Hu led them to surround a house and turned it upside down.

At this moment, a soldier suddenly cried, "Ouch!"

It turned out that something had hit his head; the crowd looked and saw it was an arrow without an arrowhead.

Other soldiers were also hit.

Seeing this, Chen Hu's face became even uglier, "You few are dead, go cool off under the tree."

The soldiers scratched their heads and walked away reluctantly.

"Search for me, don't miss a single corner," Chen Hu was annoyed.

What was this? They hadn't even seen the enemy, yet they had lost so many men; he was going to lose all his face.

The soldiers were also suppressing a belly full of fire; they no longer cared about anything else, entered the houses, and turned everything into a mess.

A soldier overturned a pile of straw in the woodshed and suddenly saw a hole underneath.

He poked his head in to look, and suddenly a stick reached out from inside and poked his forehead.

"Ouch!" With a loud cry, he clutched his forehead and squatted on the ground.

Other soldiers heard the sound and came over; upon seeing it, they were suddenly enlightened.

"Colonel, look." A soldier pointed at the hole in the ground.

"So that's how it is." Chen Hu finally understood where the people in the village had gone.

However, even knowing this, he was worried at this moment.

Inside this narrow earthen hole were commoners holding weapons.

Provisions were likely hidden inside as well, but this situation was truly a case of one man holding the pass against ten thousand.

If his men went down, they would inevitably suffer losses.

"Impressive, truly impressive." Chen Hu could not help but admire the strategy of Yan Wang.

Even if the Northern Di Cavalry reached a village like this, they would likely not get the better of it.

This village was now simply an underground Fortress.

He thought about how to break into the earthen hole.

Just then, he heard someone outside shout, "There are people over there."

"There are people over there too."

"..."

He rushed out of the house and saw people seemingly running back and forth in every corner of the village.

These people held bows and arrows, firing one shot at them before running away.

A few soldiers could not help but chase after them, but before long, they returned with their heads hanging in frustration.

They had also been "killed in action."

"This is too bullying." A soldier's eyes were red with grievance.

"Colonel, unless we dig three feet into the ground, there is no way to fight this battle; we were not prepared beforehand," a soldier said.

Chen Hu nodded, "The Northern Di Cavalry wouldn't have any preparation when they arrive either; this is truly a brilliant method for dealing with the Northern Di people."

Then he said, "Since that's the case, let's do it for real. Men, stuff thatch into the earthen hole and ignite it to smoke them out."

Upon receiving his order, the soldiers began to work.

Before long, smoke began to rise from the thatched cottage.

Outside the village, Chang Wei saw the village on fire and cursed, "You brat, you're doing this for real? Why are you still setting fire to the village?"

Having said that, he was about to spur his horse toward the village.

Zhao Xu and Liu Fu exchanged a glance, not feeling nervous.

He said to Chang Wei, "Let's go into the village together and take a look."

The three of them arrived in the village, and when Chang Wei saw the "killed" soldiers, his face immediately fell; this was already twenty percent of the soldiers.

Then, they watched Chen Hu and the others from afar.

After they released the smoke, more Village Soldiers poured out from various places.

They held fake bows and arrows, continuously attacking the soldiers.

Under such attacks, soldiers were continuously "killed in action."

Seeing such a scene, Chang Wei could not help but knit his brows.

Clearly, his soldiers had fallen into a predicament.

That was, they could not pursue, and could only be passively beaten.

Seeing soldiers being killed in action one after another, Chang Wei closed his eyes.

In his view, just relying on these three hundred men, they could not win.

Liu Fu, on the other hand, was full of pride; the tactics currently being employed by the commoners were called Sparrow Tactics.

This was also something Yan Wang had taught him.

When fighting, they would swarm out from the Tunnel in a flock.

If the enemy pursued, they would scatter in a flock.

"Your Highness, we have lost." Chang Wei sighed deeply and admitted defeat, "But if the enemy were more numerous and used smoke to suffocate the commoners, what then?"

"Let your men come back, and I will tell you," Liu Fu said.

Chang Wei had no choice but to let Chen Hu come over; at this time, Chen Hu was also somewhat disheartened, as they had smoked them for a long time without seeing much effect.

"First of all, His Highness had already considered the possibility of the enemy using smoke, so the commoners all prepared wet cloths to cover their mouths and noses. Besides that, the Tunnel under the village has several exits outside the village; if they cannot hold out, they can completely disperse and flee," Liu Fu said.

Hearing this, Chen Hu was left completely speechless.

Chang Wei was also silent.

This kind of rare tactic was indeed full of wisdom.

However, although he had lost, he was very happy.

Because this time, the Northern Di people were going to have a hard time.

Zhao Xu watched the whole process and was satisfied in his heart; this was truly worthy of being a brilliant strategy against the enemy summarized by the contemporary people in war.

Smiling as he looked at Chang Wei, he said, "This is only the first village; there are many more below, and you still have to test them one by one."

"Ah?"

Chang Wei and Chen Hu immediately wore bitter expressions.