Chapter 49: The Divine Maiden Can Move Mountains and Cross Seas

Xiao Moting did not see Bai Wei's message.

At this moment, he was sitting in the main camp with his brows tightly locked, listening to the scout's report.

"... Prince, a small squad of Daye Army scouts has been discovered outside the pass, numbering about thirty."

"Among them are six cavalrymen in full heavy armor, and even their warhorses are wrapped in heavy armor. Deputy General Qin has already taken three hundred troops to pursue them!"

Han Guiying stood to the side, her hand resting on the hilt of her Long Sword, and was startled upon hearing this.

"Heavy Armored Cavalry? That is the Daye Iron Pagoda cavalry; they are not easy to deal with!"

Xiao Moting's handsome face turned slightly cold.

He remembered that last time, the Old General Han had personally led over a hundred soldiers, only to be rammed and injured by the Daye Iron Pagoda heavy cavalry, with countless soldiers also wounded.

A loud shout from a messenger officer came from outside the door.

"Report! Deputy General Qin has returned!"

As soon as the words fell, Qin Zhan lifted the curtain and, supported by a soldier, stumbled into the tent.

"Qin Zhan, you are injured?" Han Guiying immediately cried out in alarm.

Blood stained the corners of Qin Zhan's mouth as he gasped for breath.

"It is only a minor injury, it is of no consequence!"

"I beg the Prince to forgive my incompetence for failing to capture the Daye scouts and bring them back to the camp."

Xiao Moting commanded in a deep voice, "Summon the Military Doctor immediately."

The Military Doctor arrived quickly and hurriedly pushed the X-ray Machine over to examine Qin Zhan.

"Prince, Deputy General Qin has internal injuries. Fortunately, he was wearing a Bulletproof Vest, so his bones are not broken, but his internal organs are damaged and he needs two days of recovery."

While the Military Doctor was treating the wounds, Qin Zhan explained the situation.

After listening, Xiao Moting's expression grew even more grim and cold.

This Iron Pagoda was a Heavy Armored Cavalry unit that the Great Ye had spent a great deal of wealth to forge.

The horses selected were Highland Thousand-Li Horses with large builds and strong load-bearing capacity.

Both the riders and the horses were wrapped from head to toe in thick Black Iron Battle Armor, which was exceptionally sturdy and impervious to blades and arrows.

A cavalry squad composed of just a few "Iron Pagoda" riders had the destructive power of a war chariot!

The three hundred soldiers Qin Zhan took with him had even notched their Long Swords without being able to cut through the enemy's heavy armor.

Instead, they were trampled by the enemy's Iron Pagoda cavalry unit as it charged through the crowd, leaving over a dozen Northern Frontier Army soldiers knocked over and severely injured.

The Military Doctor reported respectfully.

"Prince, the injured soldiers have already been sent to the makeshift hospital for treatment."

"There are nineteen casualties in total, three of whom died from severe injuries."

"Nine soldiers have broken ribs, and the rest have broken limbs; they will need at least half a year of rest before they can return to the battlefield."

After the refugees in the makeshift shelters entered the pass, Xiao Moting had ordered half of the compartments to be converted into a military hospital.

Fortunately, Bai Wei had sent the X-ray Machine and trained several Military Doctors to perform fracture surgeries.

Otherwise, these soldiers who were rammed and injured would have had no path to survival.

"Prince, my father was injured by the Iron Pagoda." Han Guiying said through gritted teeth, her eyes red, "They rely on their heavy armor to repeatedly come to the Beijiang border to scout for information; it is truly arrogant!"

Xiao Moting's sword-like brows knitted even tighter.

... I did not expect the "Iron Pagoda" to be this strong!

A mere four "Iron Pagoda" heavy cavalrymen were able to trample the three-hundred-man squad Qin Zhan led.

In half a month, the two nations would be at war.

Daye would certainly dispatch the Iron Pagoda cavalry unit to easily crush the Daliang soldiers.

No wonder the Great Ye dared to be so arrogant, issuing a declaration of war to Daliang half a month in advance.

It turned out they had never taken Daliang seriously at all.

Xiao Moting looked up and commanded in a deep voice.

"Immediately have the craftsmen forge Heart Protector Mirrors to withstand the impact of the heavy cavalry."

Han Guiying went to carry this out immediately.

However, in Daliang, iron was a precious commodity.

Even if they melted down every iron pot and kitchen knife in the entire Northern Frontier Camp to forge Heart Protector Armor, there would only be a little over a hundred sets.

For the Great Ye, which possessed an entire Heavy Armored Cavalry unit, it was truly a drop in the bucket.

Watching Old General Han and Qin Zhan both suffer defeat before the Iron Pagoda, a sense of panic began to spread among the soldiers.

"Do you think... we can win when we fight Daye in half a month?"

"The Iron Pagoda is so strong; not only can we not cut them, but whoever they ram dies! None of us will survive."

Xiao Dabao dragged several new recruits into the camp tent, fuming with rage.

"Prince, these deserters actually tried to flee the Northern Frontier Camp!"

Having said this, he kicked the deserters, forcing them to kneel on the ground.

Xiao Moting swept his gaze over them and saw that these deserters were all refugees who had recently enlisted.

Xiao Dabao said angrily, "Prince, rumors are spreading throughout the camp that this battle will be lost, and the morale of the army is wavering! Please issue an order to execute these new recruits and behead them as a warning to others."

Upon hearing they were to be executed, the few deserters were terrified and knelt to beg for mercy.

Xiao Moting's expression was cold and stern.

These deserters were not wrong!

The Iron Pagoda's power was immense; they were practically invincible!

The Iron Pagoda is immensely powerful, practically invincible!

With the two armies arrayed against each other, the Daliang army's prospects were grim.

However, if the morale of the troops were to waver now, they would be defeated without even fighting!

Should he execute them, or should he not?

To execute them would make everyone afraid to enlist again.

But not to execute them would shake the morale of the army.

Xiao Moting's brows knit even tighter.

Several new recruits were weeping and wailing, prostrating themselves on the ground and kowtowing incessantly.

"Prince, the Iron Pagoda is too formidable; we all have families, we don't want to die the moment we enlist."

"There are many more soldiers who want to desert; some have already written their last wills, saying this battle is doomed to fail and Daliang is going to perish."

Xiao Moting's temples throbbed.

He looked up and saw Bai Wei's message.

"How many craftsmen have you recruited now? I'm sending you something useful!"

"This is iron forged using our high technology, called White Cast Iron; its hardness is supreme!"

"I'm sending you a sample first to see if the blacksmiths can forge it; I have thousands of catties of it here!"

Inside the wardrobe, there sat a massive block of iron!

Xiao Moting held his breath.

"Iron?" Xiao Dabao was suddenly overjoyed, "It's actually an iron block! Is Shennü Daren going to send us iron?"

"We have iron? And it's a white iron we've never seen before!" Han Guiying's face flushed with excitement as she stepped forward, "Prince, with iron, we can forge armor and Heart Protector Mirrors to go head-to-head with the Iron Pagoda!"

"Shennü Daren, Xiao Moting does not know... how to thank you."

Xiao Moting squeezed his fists tightly, his voice trembling slightly.

Every time, at his most critical moment, Bai Wei was always able to appear in time.

She... must be his guardian Goddess, right?

The blacksmiths were summoned to examine the White Cast Iron.

After inspecting the White Cast Iron ingot, the several blacksmiths could not help but exclaim in surprise.

"This... how on earth was this iron block made? It's actually harder than Mysterious Iron!"

"I've been a blacksmith my whole life, and I've never seen iron of such high purity."

"It's Immortal Iron; if we use this to forge armor, the Iron Pagoda won't be able to injure our soldiers."

Xiao Dabao suppressed his excitement, "Prince, how many pieces of Divine Iron is Shennü Daren going to send us?"

Xiao Moting shook his head.

"It's not just a few pieces; Shennü Daren said she would send over ten thousand catties of Divine Iron!"

Clang!

The Long Sword in Han Guiying's hand dropped to the ground, and she widened her eyes in shock.

"Ten... ten thousand catties?"

It was simply heaven-defying!

In this era, no matter which country it was, iron ore veins were extremely scarce.

Even in the prosperous Great Ye, if they gathered all the miners in the country and mined for an entire year!

They could only extract three thousand catties of iron!

Yet Shennü Daren had managed to obtain ten thousand catties of iron so easily!

And it was White Cast Divine Iron, which had even greater hardness and higher purity!

How on earth did she transport it?

Could it be that Shennü Daren truly possesses the divine power to move mountains and cross seas?