Peace Order
Chapter 509 - 23: Sword Madman Strikes, The Strategist Offers a Plan, The Martial World Meets The Temples!_2

Chapter 509: Chapter 23: Sword Madman Strikes, The Strategist Offers a Plan, The Martial World Meets The Temples!_2

As Pang Shuiyun spoke each sentence, he arranged the cups and chopsticks on the table.

A basic battle formation took shape.

Pang Shuiyun’s eyes sparkled slightly, his tone calm as he said, "Three thousand men, and Yuwen Tianxian is a steady and firm type of famous general, skilled in formation deployment and advancement. Whether it’s cavalry or infantry combat, he has considerable expertise. This battle formation is not large, but it’s also definitely not small."

"Young Master needs this battle, so I would ask the Sword Madman elder not to interfere."

Pang Shuiyun rose to his feet and bowed deeply, saying, "I know of Young Master’s experience in Jiangzhou City, Guan Yi City. I’ve also seen him personally devise a strategy, allowing the Yue Family Army to successfully break free, and he himself to withdraw unscathed, today he’s merely fifteen years old by nominal age. In history, famous generals who stood out at this age, at the very least ranked within the top thirty on the Divine General List in the future."

"But if this continues, in the future, he will only become a Fierce General, a Fighting General."

"Skilled at slaying generals and capturing flags, but unable to become a Great General."

"He needs experience in leading troops."

"The commander’s control over the soldiers isn’t martial arts, nor can it be acquired through mere book reading or meditative practice, and training has little effect. The renowned generals of the world all truly grasped the essence of commanding troops only through actual combat."

Pang Shuiyun asked, "How does one become a qualified general?"

"By leading at least a thousand men into battle against other soldiers and then surviving."

"That is a qualified general."

"One real battle surpasses five years of rigorous training at the Military School."

"Both sides have three thousand men!"

"A combined battle of six thousand men is far from the scale of a major war; it’s merely a skirmish between two states. Yet it’s not a small friction either. Commanding the Qi Mechanism of three thousand men into formation on the battlefield and charging back and forth is when the Young Master will truly become a general."

Murong Longtu looked at the strategist before him and asked, "Three thousand men?"

"From where?"

Pang Shuiyun smiled and said, "I have already prepared them for Young Master."

The strategist, smiling, stretched out his hand and said unhurriedly, "I leveraged Young Master’s strategy to stir up the situation in Zhenbei City. The City Lord has fallen from power, and his private army of a thousand men will all be sentenced to death. I used Young Master’s influence to aid their escape."

"They know it’s a difficult path, but if they don’t follow me, they will be beheaded."

"Unfortunately, I only managed to recruit a little over five hundred men. The rest became a warning to others. Naturally, it was the handiwork of the Zhenbei City generals."

The strategist’s eyes, gentle yet icy, smiled and said:

"In the month I’ve been here, I’ve trampled some mountain bandits and outlaw strongholds."

"Within one hundred seventy li from here, I have found a mountain where I’ve constructed basic battle formation defenses and also recruited thirty-three men, all veterans from the Taiping Army, not particularly skilled in martial arts, most only reaching the Second Layer Heaven."

"But they are all battle-hardened."

"In total, there are five hundred crossbowmen from the City Lord’s private army, over two thousand bandits, outlaws, and prisoners on death row, and each of the thirty-three veterans can just manage to control around a hundred men each. I will assist Young Master, making it three thousand. We lack cavalry, but possess mountainous defense."

Pang Shuiyun, who claimed not to be skilled in tactics, directly used the items on the table to infer a battle formation sandbox.

Siming’s corner of the eye twitched, unable to help but click his tongue: "You set those three generals against the gang leader, the Great City Lord, then devoured his band of private soldiers. It seems both good and bad people you have played, and in the end, you’ve reaped all the benefits."

"You old fellow, you’re not as nice as you look."

Pang Shuiyun shook his head, speaking frankly, "The Military School has no good or evil."

"These people were enemies of the Young Master to begin with. Since that’s the case, it’s not a problem to make use of them. Everything has been prepared; it all depends on the Young Master..."

He raised his eyes, looking at the Sword Madman Murong Longtu, enunciating each word:

"As long as Young Master can lead this ragtag army of three thousand, there’s no need to defeat Yuwen Tianxian. Just holding one’s own against him, using geographical advantages to ensure victory without defeat, would suffice. The turmoil within Zhenbei City is keeping them too busy scrambling for power to pay attention to external affairs."

"The optimal outcome would be to truly defeat Yuwen Tianxian!"

"Defeat the Yuwen aristocratic family, and then let the Young Master take charge of leading the troops, amassing a host ready to confront Ying Country’s elite. Then, using the renown of the Yuwen Family, let Young Master truly set foot in the world!"

"Not as a rebel, not as an outlaw, not as a wanted criminal, not a knight of the Martial World."

"But as a young, famous general who defeated Yuwen Tianxian on the battlefield!"

Pang Shuiyun’s eyes gleamed, and the gentle, scholarly demeanor he had maintained for ten years as a teacher vanished completely. His eyes became sharp, like a drawn sword. This elder still harbored an intense flame within his heart, like a phoenix rising:

"Let’s use the renown of the Yuwen Family to help Young Master set foot in the world."

"If Yuwen Lie were here, such a strategy would not be successful, but the one present is only Yuwen Tianxian, a loyal and brave general, yet not adept at cunning and stratagems."

"And you are the only, and last, insurance for my strategy."

"After all, even though the Young Master is a hero, he might not be suited for battle formations."

Pang Shuiyun said, "If in the end, Young Master truly is not cut out for battle formations, please save him and take him to Jiangnan... "The old man chuckled, "As for me, I will take this unrealistic dream to the battlefield to find those old friends of mine."

He had deduced and prepared everything.

The old strategist held his cup of tea, tilting his head back to drink, looking outside at Zhenbei City through the wind. He seemed to see those old friends, yet most of them had died long ago, leaving the old man wistful, gentle, almost seeing those people led by the young generals at the front. Pang Shuiyun whispered: