The World Online

As soon as the expedition army was chosen, Ouyang Shuo continued on arranging the logistics to ensure the operation goes on smoothly.

”Zhao Youfang!”

”Here!”

”It is hard to travel on the mountain roads and woods, hence prior to the expedition, the Combat Logistics Division will have to transport the logistics supply to Xuanniao tribe, we will be using it as a transfer station.”

”Yes, my lord!”

”In addition, Combat Logistics Division will need to prepare war siege equipment. The war versus a defense wall is a formidable task, we must be fully prepared.” Ouyang Shuo continued on.

”Understood, rest assured my lord!” Zhao Youfang was confident.

”Medications must also be taken care of. The mountain jungles are filled with snakes and insects, some of them venomous. Have a word with the hospital, and prepare the appropriate medications. It’d be best to talk to the chief shaman in Xuanniao tribe, he is an expert in this field.” Ouyang Shuo really did arrange things in great detail.

After the logistics, Ouyang Shuo continued with his orders: ”Song San!”

”Here!”

”The Military Intelligence Division needs to gather more information, including the road paths and its condition that we will be taking. This is the first time Shanhai will engage in a mountain jungle terrain, the intelligence must be done perfectly.”

”Rest assured, my lord. Under the lead of Leng Qian, the M.I.D 1st team had ventured deep in the jungles for more intelligence.

”Very good. Zhao Sihu!”

”Here!”

”Are all your 5 squadrons fully-equipped?”

”My lord, the 2 archery squadrons had been fully-equipped from the plundered resources in the raids. But the 2 crossbow squadrons.... because crossbows were limited weapons in nature, even if we had tried our best searching in addition to the crossbows crafted from the Bow and Crossbow Division, we could only fully-equip one squadron.” Zhao Sihu said in great embarrassment.

Ouyang Shuo frowned, shook his head and said: ”How will you go to war without weapons.”

Zhao Sihu was flustered, he was afraid that Ouyang Shuo would leave the city defense unit behind, he quickly said: ”My lord, I suggest we temporarily arm the other crossbow squadron with bows and arrows, so we can still go to war.”

Ouyang Shuo stared at him, and scolded him: ”Nonsense! You think war is a game? These troops had not received any archery training, even if you gave them bows, it would be useless metals in their hands. Plus, crossbows have a longer reload rate than bows, we need at least two squadrons in order to rain arrow barrages over the enemies.”

Zhao Sihu, when stared at by Ouyang Shuo, turned immediately from a fierce tiger to a timid cat, his voice lowered and said: ”Then what should we do?”

Fortunately, Ge Hongliang stood up and saved his ass, he said: ”Sire, I have a suggestion.”

”Please say it!”

”According to my understanding, the cavalry 1st squadron was initially a crossbow cavalry, which means that they have been equipped with crossbows. Therefore, my suggestion is, the cavalry 1st squadron can lend the city defense their crossbow,” said Ge Hongliang.

”Good, we will do it that way.” Ouyang Shuo upon hearing the suggestion approved in excitement.

After Ouyang Shuo finished the orders, Ge Hongliang continued, adding on: ”Sire, while the two divisions are preparing for the war, the infantry unit and city defense unit should not stand by like sitting ducks. I suggest that the two squadrons move into Qiushui Town, start training and prepare themselves for the woods.”

Ouyang Shuo nodded in agreement, said: ”This is a very good suggestion, but let’s not forget about the Langshan Mining Field garrison unit. The infantry unit and city defense unit will move into the mining site, they will train and coordinate together with the garrison unit.”

Speaking of Langshan garrison unit, it reminded Ouyang Shuo of one thing, he turned and said to Zhao Youfang: ”Prepare a batch of equipment for the Langshan garrison unit, it is time to upgrade and change theirs.”

”Yes!”

’Alright, let’s go and get prepared!” Ouyang Shuo put an end to the meeting.

”Understood!”

……

April 20, Xunniao tribe main gate, the infantry unit, city defense unit and Langshan garrison unit had gathered all together.

The expedition will be led by Ouyang Shuo himself, along with Ge Hongliang as his strategist.

”Soldiers, five days ago, out of nowhere, the Jifeng tribe hit the Langshan Mining Field, brought pain and suffering to our people. This is a declaration of war! Shanhai Town has zero tolerance over these provocations, an eye for an eye, and we will wash away the pain they brought with their blood!” Ouyang Shuo shouted to the soldiers.

”An eye for an eye! They pay with their blood!” The soldiers shouted in unison.

”Depart!”

The mighty force marched towards the valley where the Jifeng tribe was located, the Infantry unit as vanguard, city defense unit in the middle and Langshan garrison unit at the back. At the end of the expedition force were the logistics, mainly formed by the tribes.

At 4 PM, the expedition team stood 3km away from the Jifeng tribe defense wall. Under General Shi’s command, they stopped and set up their camps. They will have a good rest for a night and at first light tomorrow, they will strike.

At the main tent, Ouyang Shuo gathered the three majors and the Military Intelligence Division for a pre-war military meeting.

”Leng Qian, what are the conditions of the Jifeng tribe, have they been alerted to our existence?” the first thing Ouyang Shuo asked was the Military Intelligence Division.

”My lord, the Jifeng tribe was at usual, nothing alerting was going on.”

”Oh? How could it be, they hit our Langshan mining filed, aren’t they worried about our revenge? Seems like they were not preparing themselves at all, is this some sort of tricks?” Ouyang Shuo questioned in unbelief.

Quickly Leng Qian explained: ”My lord, it is a norm for the tribes to ambush one another for hunting spaces. As the only largest tribe in this area, Jifeng tribe claims themselves as the king. They were not pleased with the Xuanniao tribe’s actions and therefore it is only natural for them to teach the Xuanniao tribe a lesson. Moreover, due to their arrogance, they had rejected the elder shaman’s invitation, not having the chance to witness the strength of our military forces. They were blind and that is why they could still keep their peace in mind.”

Langshan garrison unit Major Shi Lang confirmed the statement, ”Yes, matters like these, the small-middle tribes dare not speak and could only choke on our own fury. This is also why when sire decided to strike Jifeng tribe, we, the small-middle tribes supported so much.”

Ouyang Shuo nodded, smiled and said: ”Very good, it seems like that even fate decided to stand by our side. I give my words, strengthen the patrols tonight, do not let your guards down, and tomorrow, we will take down the Jifeng tribe once and for all.”

The next day, the military had their meals and marched towards the Jifeng tribe.

Watching the Jifeng tribe’s defense wall before his eyes, Ouyang Shuo pondered deeply. The wall, 30 meters wide, 6 meters tall, stretched from one end of the valley entrance to the other, the structures were made of large stone rocks, giving it a mighty look. Right in the middle of the wall, stood a 4 meter wide wooden gate, while on the top of the wall were battlements designed for archers to shoot and take cover.

Ouyang Shuo turned and looked at Ge Hongliang who was standing beside him and asked: ”Director Ge, what thoughts do you have?”

”With such a defensive system, we could still take it down with the help of scaling ladders, but the casualties would be heavy in numbers. I had carefully observed the defense wall and found out something interesting, the gate they had was not a drawbridge but merely a standing wooden door. My suggestion is, we will focus our main target on the wooden door.” Ge Hongliang answered.

Ouyang Shuo nodded in agreement, ”You are right, these are all we’ve got, we’ve got little to sacrifice. However, it is not an easy task to break through the wooden gate. As soon as we make an appearance, they will be alerted immediately and reinforcements would come. Moreover, they have the geographical advantage, it will be hard for us to reach the gate, there will still be many casualties.”

Ge Hongliang said in great confidence: ”Sire need not worry much. According to the Military Intelligence Division’s reports, the Jifeng tribesmen use simple wooden bows like every other tribe. These wooden bows were mainly for hunting purposes with a shooting range of less than 120-meters. In comparison, our basic composite bows with light arrows can shoot up to 200-meters in range, far further than theirs. In addition, our crossbows have a greater shooting range of 300-meters.”

”Therefore, As long as we stand 150-meters from the defense wall, out of their 120-meters bow range, we can totally suppress the tribesmen behind the wall with our crossbows. Then, our shielded infantry can proceed with minimum damage to the wooden gate, breach the gate with large wooden rams.”

”Very good, This is a nice strategy!” Ouyang Shuo clapped his hand upon hearing the well-planned strategy.

As they had decided their strategy plan, the war machine immediately operated with full throttle. The first to initiate was the city defense unit, they went front until 150-meters away from the wall. The first line of defense stood a row of experienced rank 4 veterans shield-sword infantry squadron, their task was to form a wall like an unbreakable shield and protect their fellow war archers.

The second and third row were the two squadrons of bow archers, formed by the native tribesmen, Zhao Sihu had chosen the best out of the best, with the composite bows in their hands, they were nearly unstoppable. The last two rows were the Shanhai crossbow squadron. A crossbow was easy for one to grasp in nature, an ordinary man could use a crossbow with only 3-to-4 days of training, yet a crossbow could deal a great damage to anyone who dares to oppose it.

The infantry unit was in the west wing of the city defense unit, they would be playing the main role of attacking the wooden gate. The best 500 warriors from the native tribes, although not fully-equipped with Tang swords and Buren armor, but they were strong and should never be underestimated and wereed by the fearsome, dreadful, mighty General Shi and 5 skillful captains.

Whereas the east wing was taken by the Langshan garrison unit. Initially, Shi Lang had strongly requested to take on the main role of attacking the wooden gate, but Ouyang Shuo had declined his request after some considerations. Ouyang Shuo was worried, the Langshan garrison unit had not been through a blood-bathed war, it was not the time to trust them with such a big role yet.