Chapter 177: The Yan Dogs Are Here

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Again and again, Zheng Fan was thrown onto the ground.

Li Fusheng found this somewhat surprising.

He could not help asking, “Garrison Commander Zheng, the martial skills of that household general of yours...”

The implication was obvious.

Li Fusheng had personally experienced Fan Li’s skill.

Without using blood and qi, even a veteran of countless battlefields like Li Fusheng could not defeat him.

Yet the man who had supposedly taught Fan Li was himself...

Zheng Fan climbed back to his feet and answered, “He’s simply naturally gifted.”

Hearing that, Li Fusheng remembered how Fan Li had repeatedly anticipated his movements during their match.

He nodded.

“Then he must be a martial prodigy.”

“My lord, there is something this subordinate does not understand.”

“Go ahead.”

Li Fusheng squatted down like an old farmer.

He opened his water skin and took a drink.

“This subordinate has been stuck at Eighth Grade Martial Artist for some time now.”

“How long?”

“Two months?

“Oh, no.

“Seems like a little over a month.”

Li Fusheng shook his head.

“That isn’t long.”

In fact, it was already extremely fast.

“When did you begin training in martial arts?”

“Reporting to my lord, this subordinate only began after joining the army.”

“You reached Eighth Grade that quickly?”

“Yes.”

Li Fusheng stood and walked over to Zheng Fan.

He seized Zheng Fan’s wrist.

Immediately, a surge of blood and qi entered Zheng Fan’s body.

The blood and qi inside Zheng Fan was stimulated and instantly reacted.

“So you really didn’t climb up by swallowing pills.

“Heh.”

When Li Fusheng first heard how quickly Zheng Fan had entered the Grades and reached Eighth Grade, he had assumed Zheng Fan had relied on elixirs.

Something like Prince Fu who had been forcibly boosted to Sixth Grade.

“Truly.

“You are already advancing very quickly.”

Li Fusheng now somewhat believed that Fan Li really had been taught by Zheng Fan.

Li Fusheng himself was no genius.

But he believed geniuses truly existed in this world.

For example, Qingshuang.

Few outsiders knew that among the seven great Commanders, Qingshuang—the only one who did not need to place the surname “Li” before his name in official writing—was actually the strongest in personal martial prowess.

That was why Qingshuang often remained at the Marquis’s side.

Because equally few people knew that although the Marquis was a Martial Artist his Grade was not particularly high.

Sometimes, even wearing his full suit of armor was somewhat strenuous.

It was said that when the Marquis was young, he had displayed extraordinary martial talent.

But later, an accident left him gravely injured and caused his blood and qi to decline.

“Ninth Grade means sensing the circulation of blood and qi and being able to control it.

“Eighth Grade means releasing blood and qi outside the body.

“At Seventh Grade, you can actually wield and shape that blood and qi beyond your body.

“I’m no martial genius.

“But in my view, the path of blood and qi comes down to nurturing.”

“Nurturing?”

“Yes.

“You nurture it.”

“How much nurturing?”

“Daoists and Qi Refiners follow similar paths.

“They nurture the qi of Heaven and Earth and draw it into themselves, seeking resonance with Heaven and Earth so they can borrow its power.

“We Martial Artists, on the other hand, use our own bodies as furnaces.

“This body itself is the Heaven and Earth of the Daoists.

“And blood and qi are the weather within that world.

“From my own experience, when a Martial Artist nurtures his qi—especially a soldier—the best thing to nurture is killing intent!

“Because there are enemies.

“Because there are battlefields.

“Because there is slaughter.

“Only through slaughter can one gain insight.

“Only amid battle formations can one break through.”

Zheng Fan nodded.

So that was what he meant by nurturing qi.

He understood now.

Li Fusheng’s cultivation method, put simply, was:

Fight!

Fight like your life depended on it!

And before that add one more instruction.

Never stop!

“Garrison Commander Zheng.”

“This subordinate is here.”

“You’re a genius.

“I’m a stupid man.”

“My lord, that...”

“But clever people like shortcuts.

“They always think there must be a shortcut through every law beneath Heaven.

“And because of that, they often overlook the value of planting their feet firmly on the ground.

“A soldier should possess the spirit to throw everything away and charge forward.

“That is something I do not see in you, Garrison Commander Zheng.”

Zheng Fan’s body stiffened.

That was almost the same as calling him somewhat afraid of death.

“I once heard Qingshuang giving someone advice.

“He said a Martial Artist should possess an aura of advancing without hesitation.

“Confucians nurture vast righteous qi.

“Daoists nurture the qi of Heaven and Earth.

“Practitioners nurture qi beyond the mundane world.

“They all call it qi.

“But in truth—they are simply different states of mind from which one views the scenery.”

“That was...

“Lord Qingshuang’s teaching?”

“Yes.

“I’m only repeating his words.

“I don’t know whether any of this will help you.

“But since you’re both geniuses, perhaps there are things you can understand from one another.”

Zheng Fan dropped to one knee before Li Fusheng.

He cupped his fists.

“Many thanks for Lord Guo’s guidance!”

He did not call him Li Fusheng.

He used the man’s true surname—

Guo.

That represented a different degree of respect.

After all, for Li Fusheng to teach him these things already carried something of the affection between half a teacher and half a student.

“Truthfully, in my opinion, being a Martial Artist is still the most comfortable way to live.

“You don’t need to think about too many things.

“You don’t need to calculate too much.

“The only thing your mind needs to consider is how to kill the opponent in front of you.

“A man with fewer thoughts is like a horse carrying less weight.

“Instead, he can run faster and farther.”

“This subordinate has learned much!”

“All right.

“Get up.

“Stop kneeling over every little thing.

“Don’t act like those scholars with all their endless rituals.

“Li Bao has been fighting like a madman these past few days.

“Sigh.

“I genuinely feel somewhat guilty toward that old brother now.”

For several days straight, Li Bao had led his troops into battle of his own accord.

The more he fought, the harder it became to break through.

The more he fought, the deeper the encirclement around him became.

Losses aside an army that had originally been perfectly free to advance or withdraw had been deliberately turned by Li Bao into a situation where he was practically inviting the enemy to trap him.

Of course, because of that, Li Bao had also drawn in the overwhelming majority of the troops protecting Qian’s Capital Region.

He had cursed constantly.

He was unquestionably furious.

But after seeing through Li Fusheng’s plan he had still chosen to cooperate voluntarily.

That was a soldier.

That was the Zhenbei Army of this era.

Because they all shared one goal.

A goal that had already been sworn when the first Marquis of Zhenbei founded the army.

Even Zheng Fan could not help secretly clicking his tongue after hearing from Li Fusheng what Li Bao had been doing.

Compared with these Commanders of the Zhenbei Army—

Zheng Fan genuinely felt his own horizons were so small.

So filthy...

None of these men had ever thought about preserving their own strength.

They were even willing to sacrifice their own interests voluntarily for the greater situation.

To these military commanders, nothing was more precious than the lives of the soldiers beneath them.

“Sometimes, I’m actually rather glad I was the one who pulled you into my force.

“Otherwise, you probably would’ve ended up with that stupid leopard.”

Taking Chuzhou City had brought benefits far beyond whatever future political gains might come from it.

The military supplies alone were absurdly abundant.

After all, Chuzhou City itself had served as the great rear supply base for Qian’s Three Frontiers.

Aside from the battle against Zu Dongcheng—

Li Fusheng’s force had actually enjoyed a fairly easy time so far.

“Lord Li Bao understands the greater cause.”

This praise came sincerely.

Li Fusheng smiled.

“We can’t really let that stupid leopard grind all his men away.

“Otherwise, it’ll be damned awkward when we meet again later.

“The time is about right.

“We should move too.”

Li Fusheng licked his lips.

That familiar bloody gleam began appearing in his eyes again.

“At any cost—we charge all the way to Upper Capital.

“And once we stand beneath its walls—we’ll ask that Zhao Emperor of Qian... whether he is well!”

...

Ancient cities, except for the rare strategic position where truly “one man could hold the pass against ten thousand,” did not work the way ordinary people often imagined.

A city did not simply sit there as an absolute barrier that made it impossible for the enemy to advance until the walls were taken.

Reality, after all, was not an online game with a built-in strategic-pass system.

People often had the impression that if a city remained standing, an enemy army could not proceed and had no choice but to batter itself bloody beneath the walls.

But the real reason was simpler.

If you did not eliminate that city and instead left it behind you, you had to worry about the troops inside striking your rear, cutting your supply lines or attacking you from behind while another army hit you from the front.

It was out of military prudence that ancient wars so often produced scenes of two great armies fighting desperately over a single city.

In the history Zheng Fan knew from his previous life, it had never actually been that difficult for northern nomadic peoples to ride south.

Once a Central Plains dynasty declined and lost its ability to fight effectively in the field or sweep beyond the frontier the Great Wall was simply too long.

Find any breach and you could get through.

And now, between Li Fusheng’s force and Upper Capital every city, military stockade, and checkpoint along the road could be ignored!

Either come out and fight me in the field.

Or hide inside and stay there.

I’ll keep riding deeper!

So strictly speaking if you completely abandoned any concern for retreat or your rear there was almost no such thing as a city you absolutely had to attack instead of simply bypassing.

That night—

Li Fusheng personally executed three Qian prisoners.

He ordered three riders to hang the severed heads from their spears and parade them throughout the army.

Then, Li Fusheng drew his saber and pointed south.

Straight toward Upper Capital!

Another great raid no less audacious than the Great Yan cavalry’s earlier passage through Qian’s Three Frontier defenses began!

Li Bao had performed his role magnificently.

He had drawn almost all the enemy pressure onto himself.

The Qian generals even seemed to be planning to swallow Li Bao’s entire force.

And because of that an enormous gap had opened before Li Fusheng, who until now had remained quiet and inconspicuous!

Three days of relentless advance.

Whenever Qian troops dared block the road, detachments were split off to crush them.

The main body never stopped its rapid march.

It was a method that threw everything away.

No retreat.

No road home.

A gambler’s advance one willing to sacrifice the entire army and die alongside Li Bao if necessary!

At last, three days later the iron hooves of the Yan army reached the Bian River!

There had originally been a ferry crossing here.

But the river surface was frozen, so boats could not currently travel.

Still, settlements naturally existed around a ferry.

The local population was considerable.

And with fighting underway farther ahead, the area had also become a hub for transferring supplies.

The thunder of countless hooves shattered the silence of dawn.

Then came the panicked screams of the Qian people.

Across the river chaos erupted instantly.

The Yan are here!

The Yan barbarians are here!

The Yan dogs are here!!!

Sitting on horseback, Zheng Fan was suddenly seized by childish mischief.

He cupped both hands around his mouth.

Then shouted across the river at the top of his lungs:

“Run!

“The Yan dogs are here!”

(End of Chapter)