Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 618 - 573 - s: Not afraid of god-like opponents, just afraid ...

Chapter 618: 573 Chapters: Not afraid of god-like opponents, just afraid ...

"Soil? Where is the soil?"

"General, the nearby soil has almost been dug out. If we dig any more, we’ll make pits in the ground!"

Bai Dushu looked at the greatly damaged Great Wall with furrowed brows.

Last night, the Tujue Vanguard had attacked first.

Fortunately, the Ying Zhao clan had informed them in advance of the Tujue attack.

Bai Dushu had pretended there were no defending forces here, enticing the Tujue Vanguard to come closer, then launched a surprise attack, catching the enemy off guard.

Of the three thousand Tujue Vanguard, less than a thousand had managed to escape.

Of course, those thousand were probably killed off by the Ying Zhao clan.

But the Vanguard that came last night, upon seeing they were surrounded, simply gave up fighting with the Great Sui soldiers, and instead used every means to damage the city walls of the Great Wall.

Though the walls were tall, due to years of neglect, many parts were indeed susceptible to damage.

Thus, after a night of fierce battle, this defense line now exhibited damages that totaled at least one li in length.

Currently, Bai Dushu looked at these damages, pondering how to make the repairs faster.

At a distance, gusts of wind from the grasslands blew in from the north, lifting the sand and dust outside the Great Wall.

Fortunately, the wall blocked the wind and prevented the sands from blowing in unchecked.

Even the sand that did blow over soon settled on the ground.

Seeing this scene, Bai Dushu’s brows suddenly relaxed.

"Summon everyone in the army who knows about masonry!"

As Bai Dushu spoke, he immediately took out paper and a pen from his Storage Ring and began to calculate.

Then, a soldier who had always been involved in construction and digging approached and sighed, "General Bai, there’s no need to fuss, I can see how much of the wall is missing at a glance, estimating we need about seven thousand cubic zhang of soil. Not to mention we don’t have that much soil, even if we did, General, do you know how much a person can build in a day?"

Bai Dushu calculated as he spoke, "Each worker, two zhang a day. For digging, each worker, three zhang one chi a day."

The soldier who had just spoken was caught off guard that this general, who had risen from the ranks, actually knew this.

"Now that Military Envoy Changsun is critically ill, some things we can handle ourselves without troubling him!"

A soldier nearby said with difficulty, "But just with us here, it’s not something that can be fixed in a short while!"

Bai Dushu shook his head, continuing his calculations with a smile.

At this point, many soldiers gathered around.

Everyone felt like General Bai was going to make everyone participate in building the wall. Not that anyone was unwilling to work.

But after last night’s battle, everyone was not only tired but some had also been injured.

Everyone wanted to rest properly, especially since they didn’t know when the Tujue would attack again.

Just then, Bai Dushu had just finished calculating, then stood up with a grin, looking at the soldiers who had gathered around, and said, "Don’t worry, it’s no trouble. Half a day is enough to finish the work."

Hearing this, everyone was stunned.

Someone whispered, "General Bai, we can cut corners here without anyone minding, but if we do and the Tujue break in, we’re the ones who will suffer!"

Bai Dushu laughed and shook his head, pointing toward the most severely damaged section nearby, and said, "That section of the wall, we can just slapdash fix it, and even pull down the section next to it!"

Hearing this, everyone was dumbfounded.

Wasn’t the plan to repair the wall?

Why were they starting to demolish it before even beginning the repairs?

Bai Dushu continued, "Take down the bricks and stones from that section and use them elsewhere, fix the other areas, and then behind this greatest gap, dig a pit, a deep pit! You don’t need me to tell you what to put in there, right?"

At that moment, many people quickly grasped Bai Dushu’s idea.

In this battle, the entire Lingwu Army was deployed, depending on the Great Wall to resist the Tujue, and it was unclear how long the battle would last. Naturally, saving some strength now meant having a better chance of victory later.

Just like now, only repairing half, leaving the other half looking shoddy, so when the Tujue break through here thinking they have succeeded,

then charging in, they will fall right into the pit.

Knowing General Bai’s plan, everyone worked with even more enthusiasm.

After all, no one wanted to follow a leader who only knew blind exertion.

And by that evening, with the sun still above the horizon, Bai Dushu received intelligence sent by a member of the Ying Zhao clan.

This time, it was not a small scouting party of three thousand like last night.

This time, it was a real Vanguard Army.

Under the setting sun, on the distant horizon, a Tujue horseman stood there, staring at the Great Wall defended by the Lingwu Army.

Next, more Tujue cavalry appeared behind that person.

Soon, a small black dot turned into a line, eventually forming a long, dark expanse like a surging tidal wave, rushing toward the Great Wall.

The Lingwu Army knew... the great battle was about to begin!

This time, the Tujue had dispatched a Vanguard of as many as thirty thousand men.

Although the setting sun had sunk, no one could see exactly how many Tujue people had come from the opposite side. However, one could estimate their numbers from the arrows they shot over.

Fortunately, the Lingwu Army had made ample preparations.

As waves of Tujue attacked, a full barrage of arrows, capstan crossbows, and various catapults unleashed their full might.

"Hold back these Tujue bastards! Let them realize the Lingwu Army is not to be messed with!"

A fiery captain, raising his Horizontal Blade high, urged those around him to quickly rearm the capstan crossbows. After all, the immense power of a capstan crossbow could disrupt the Tujue’s charging formation with a single shot, killing a dozen Tujue warriors.

But just then, a sudden gust swept through.

The captain, who had just raised his Horizontal Blade, hadn’t even realized what was happening when he heard a ’thud’. Looking down, he discovered a massive arrow, shot from the direction of the Tujue, had pierced his chest.

Behind him, that arrow—over five feet long—had also pierced through a catapult positioned behind him.

As the catapult fell, Military Envoy Changsun Bubai sensed that the situation was dire.

"The Tujue have capstan crossbows?"

It had always been so that the Great Sui held off the Tujue because, although they couldn’t match the enemy in single combat, speed, or archery, the Great Sui possessed various siege weapons.

Reliant on these products of Thousand Mechanisms Path, they could confront the Tujue.

But now, how had their own advantage suddenly appeared on the enemy’s side?

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

Another dozen arrows shot from capstan crossbows.

The massive arrows even pierced through some of the battlements on the Great Wall, pinning the soldiers hiding behind.

Some even fell far behind the wall, landing in the area of the catapults and transport troops.

"Secure the rear quickly! Cough, cough, cough..."

Military Envoy Changsun Bubai said, unable to suppress violent coughs.

After all, having just lost a son and then being thrust immediately back into battle, it was absolutely impossible for Changsun Bubai to be as composed as usual.

At that moment, Changsun Wuji, standing beside him, whispered, "Grandpa! Don’t you think something is off?"

"Nonsense! The Tujue suddenly having capstan crossbows, and seemingly a lot of them, there’s definitely something sketchy! Could it be that during the Two Divisions Mountain battle, they repaired the Shuofang Army’s capstan crossbows?"

After all, the Tujue had never had capstan crossbows before, but now they suddenly did, indicating there had to be a source.

But Changsun Wuji shook his head.

"You mean the Tujue’s capstan crossbows aren’t those repaired ones left by the Shuofang Army?"

Changsun Wuji realized that his grandpa’s thinking had worsened significantly after this sickness.

"Grandpa, think about it, the Tujue have been attacking fiercely, and we have killed or injured countless of their men. This has been ongoing for about a two-hour period, right?"

It was then that Military Envoy Changsun Bubai grasped what Changsun Wuji was getting at.

"You mean, why are they using them only now?"

"Exactly! Capstan crossbows are difficult to transport, typically carried on carts or specialized small war wagons, which makes transport troublesome. But the Tujue have so many horses, how could they possibly only be transporting them now? Therefore, their sudden fierce attack at this moment is suspicious. But for the moment, I can’t pinpoint what this suspicion implies."

Military Envoy Changsun Bubai looked up at the night sky and then turned his ear northward to listen to the distant battle cries.

"The enemy comes from the north."

Changsun Wuji didn’t quite understand why his grandpa suddenly blurted out such an obvious fact.

But the next statement stunned Changsun Wuji and all the surrounding generals.

"But why are the battle cries coming only from the north? The Northeast direction belongs to the Shuofang Army, and logically, there should be faint battle noises from there as well."

"Moreover, at the point of contact between two armies, Mei Fei usually insists that we send reinforcements there. Why is he so compliant this time?"

At this, many present felt a buzz in their heads.

Everyone thought of a possibility, although everyone felt it shouldn’t occur.

But upon closer consideration, given Mei Fei’s idiocy, it wasn’t impossible for such a thing to happen.

That is, the Shuofang Army didn’t advance north but directly fled!

Thus, the Tujue realized that while the southern path was defended right by the Great Sui, the left was undefended. They wouldn’t cut directly through the left but would first fiercely attack the right and then encircle from the left, aiming to annihilate this force determined to resist the Tujue’s iron hooves.

Changsun Wuji immediately took out a Signal Firework from his bosom and fired it into the sky.

Whoosh—

Bang!

As a dazzling firework exploded in the sky with the character "three", all eyes turned to Changsun Wuji.

Changsun Wuji said, "This is from Brother San before he left. He said if our military forces were inadequate, I could request aid from the Town Martial Office. Then the Town Martial Office would mobilize all martial artists from the north along the Longyun Path to help us withstand the Tujue!"

At that moment, the sound of galloping hooves approached from the east.

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[Note 116] Reference explanation

The daily work volume for each worker building and digging is referenced from the "Volume Five - Preparation - Building Fortifications" in "Taibai Yinjing".