I sat in the tent, listening to reports on the exercise. To be honest, if I hadn't known beforehand that it was an exercise, anyone would have been terrified by the sounds of battle and flashes of light. I finally realized a truth: fake or simulated things are always more deceptive than the real thing. It's simple, because their original purpose is to deceive—like fake flowers, wigs, fake cigarettes, fake alcohol, counterfeit money… and the shouts of battle on this simulated battlefield were far more intense than real combat. Although it was called an exercise, the soldiers from various countries, encountering it for the first time, were really treating it like a game. This game involving millions of people was very interesting to them. They couldn't miss the chance; after being fatally struck by a knife from half a meter away, they couldn't help but seize the last opportunity for a thrill, shouting gleefully, "Ah, I died so tragically!"
Would you shout like that during a real battle? In a real battle, the number of people dwindles as the fighting goes on, but the fighting doesn't actually reduce the number of people. So after we had been fighting for more than an hour, the noise was giving me a headache.
The exercise was in full swing. Suddenly, one of the telephones on the table started ringing and vibrating. I picked it up and saw it was Shi Qian, who was on lookout duty at the front. I answered and shouted, "Didn't I tell you, tonight everything is done exactly as planned, no telephones allowed!"
Shi Qian shouted, "We have no choice! The Jin soldiers have broken out of the camp!"
I asked, somewhat surprised, "Why did they rush out? How many of them are there?"
Shi Qian said, "Just based on the location of our exercise, there are probably more than 50,000 troops!"
I exclaimed in surprise, "What are you trying to do?"
Wu Yong reminded them from the side, "The Jin soldiers probably think we're fighting amongst ourselves. We should take this opportunity to crush the allied forces in one fell swoop!"
"Damn it!" I exclaimed, just about to ask Shi Qian if the troops responsible for guarding the front could hold out. Wu Yong's eyes lit up and he said, "Hey, this is also a good opportunity—let the troops in front withdraw and let the Jin soldiers enter our training ground."
I thought for a moment and said, "Would this work? If we don't defend, it would only take the Jin soldiers five minutes to travel from their main camp to the training ground." Our encirclement has already tightened too much.
Wu touched a row of telephones on the table and smiled, "Five minutes is enough."
It suddenly dawned on me. If we relied on a messenger to relay orders, five minutes might not be enough to accomplish anything. But with a telephone, five minutes seemed like plenty of time.
I immediately picked up the phone and urgently notified the generals of this exercise: "This exercise is over. From now on, immediately begin combat preparations!" Wu Yong said from the side: "Tell everyone not to stop shouting battle cries, and change all flags."
Wu Yong's judgment was correct. Our exercise had worked in the best of luck. Although Jin Wuzhu was unclear about the details of the various units in the allied forces, he knew that these troops were not from one country. So when he saw us shouting and burning, he genuinely thought that there was infighting among the enemy. No commander would let such an opportunity pass—the reason he had remained silent for so long was precisely because he was waiting for such an opportunity, but out of caution, he still only sent 50,000 men to test us.
The Jin troops set out from their camp, and every enemy they encountered retreated without a fight. This might normally warrant caution and defense, but at this moment it was undoubtedly a good omen confirming the marshal's correct judgment. The deputy commander, Nianhan, led the charge, constantly urging his men to advance faster.
During this time, the entire allied forces prepared to meet the enemy. All participating troops removed their national flags, leaving only the allied insignia—the triangular flag of Yucai. To effectively implement Wu Yong's suggestion, the soldiers didn't stop shouting; often, two men would stand face-to-face motionless, their cries more agonizing than if they were being boiled alive. Ersha even smeared jam all over his body, and the soldiers followed suit. Many others lay on the ground, feigning death with swords tucked under their arms. Although no one was injured, the sight of broken swords and shattered armor was heartbreaking.
Nianhan ran to within 20 meters of the training ground and was overjoyed at the sight. Before him stood soldiers in various uniforms, shouting battle cries, many covered in blood. The battlefield was a scene of utter devastation; a quick assessment revealed that hand-to-hand combat had been raging for over an hour. This was undeniable. With a triumphant roar, Nianhan raised his whip, and 50,000 Jin soldiers surged forward like a tidal wave…
In the command post, I sat cross-legged in front of a large table, bustling about with the telephone, picking up one thing and putting another down, my eyes bloodshot as I shouted hoarsely, "What? Hill 2 has been captured? Great, I'll give you credit!" "I understand, the enemy is surrounded. The original area 3 needs Qin crossbows for large-scale bombardment." "Liu Dongyang, have your second and third infantry corps advance 10 meters... You can't even recognize my voice? Fine, fine, the password is 'The gate faces the sea, the three rivers converge and flow for ten thousand years!'" There was no way around it; it was fine during the exercise, but now it was for real. The rigid Liu Dongyang was afraid someone would take advantage of the chaos, so he insisted on getting the password before acting.
...Nianhan's 50,000 men, once assembled, were quickly divided into several smaller groups by the Tang army's already deployed long, serpentine formation. Their cavalry charges crashed into the giant shields, leaving them bruised and battered. The Qin army, having mastered coordinate technology, leisurely fired arrows into the air from behind, but the infuriating parabolic principle meant that the whistling crossbow bolts, which seemed destined for the Tang soldiers, ended up hitting them instead.
The Tang army, not adept at holding their ground, retreated, followed by the heavily fortified infantry regiments of the Song-Ming allied forces. In the confined terrain, the Jin army's charge was thwarted by the strong defenses. Without a wide plain for the cavalry to build up momentum, once the first rank's charge was halted, the troops behind were essentially pushing their own men to the brink of defeat. The tormented Jin soldiers finally learned to dismount and engage the heavily armored infantry, who were unable to fight in melee, in hand-to-hand combat. Unfortunately, their opponents were unwilling to do so. They slowly spread out to the sides, revealing the eager Mongol cavalry behind them. By the time the Jin soldiers tried to remount, the Mongols had already arrived from afar in an instant. Even less challenging than defeating mounted infantry was slaughtering unhorsed cavalry. The Jin soldiers, whose fighting strength was not weak, were far inferior to the Liangshan army and Qin army, who also fought on foot, on dismount. What frustrated them most was that the chariots, which they had only heard of but never seen, had reappeared in their former glory. This long-obsolete weapon proved incredibly effective within the infantry ranks…
Throughout the battle, the Jin soldiers were frustrated, helpless, and bewildered. Their swift defeat made them believe that the enemy had been plotting this battle for millennia. Initially, many of them thought the infighting within the allied forces was genuine, and the sudden backlash was due to shared hatred of the enemy. Of course, they quickly changed their minds. Those allied soldiers, already "bloodied and battered," continued to fight with remarkable agility. If this could be explained as bravery, then when they saw a "corpse" pierced by a longsword suddenly leap up and launch a sneak attack, even the most foolish person would understand what was happening.
Chapter 167 Terracotta Warrior No. 1
After half an hour of fighting, Nianhan's forces had suffered more than half their losses. The bewildered Jin soldiers were quickly divided into small groups by the allied forces and surrounded in batches. Nianhan had anticipated from the start that this was an impossible surprise attack; like any general in an emergency, he exchanged his helmet and robe with his guards in hopes of creating confusion. However, our allied forces had a particularly specialized unit dedicated to striking down enemy leaders—he was swiftly subdued and brought to the ground by Xu Delong and his men.
Seeing that things were about right, I pushed aside the pile of telephones on the table, grabbed the microphone, and shouted through the loudspeaker to the surrounded Jin soldiers: "Fellow Jurchen brothers, you are surrounded. Lay down your weapons, put your hands behind your heads, and surrender. Our policy has always been to treat prisoners of war well, our policy is to treat prisoners of war well..."
This wasn't the first time the Jin soldiers had suffered a defeat. Many of them were veterans of the previous raid on the enemy camp and knew the allied forces' tendency not to exterminate their enemies completely. They quickly threw down their weapons and covered their heads with their hands. Others even untied their belts and threw them aside, squatting on the ground. 20,000 Jin soldiers were being held captive in one place. I rode to the front lines and saw that Nianhan was already bound hand and foot. I grabbed a plastic megaphone used by middlemen selling slippers and shouted at the Jin soldiers, "Who here has the highest rank?"
The Jin soldiers squatted on the ground, looking at each other in whispers. Just then, one of them stood up with a worried expression and said, "Let's not choose anymore, I'll do it."
I chuckled as soon as I saw him: it was the same guy who fell into a pit and dislocated his arm during the last raid on Liangshan's main camp. It seemed his old injury hadn't fully healed, as he came to me again with his arms hanging limply.
I laughed and said, "Dude, we're destined to meet."
The Jin soldier leader said with a bitter face, "Give me your orders. What should we do this time?"
I said, "Nothing much. I'll let you go back and tell your marshal to quickly send back the people I asked for. Your deputy marshal can stay and I'll entertain him for a few days."
The leader nodded, and just as he was about to leave, he immediately turned back and said, "Nothing to do, right?" Last time he had them fill in the pit, and this time he probably thought I would have to ask them to help put out the fire and tidy up the camp or something.
I waved my hand and said, "Leave the horses and weapons, and take all your people, dead or alive. Also—I don't want to see you again. I don't have the patience of Zhuge Liang, who captured and released you seven times."
The Jin soldiers, one by one, sighed and lamented, carrying the wounded and dying, their appearance and backs all so familiar. The 50,000 horses and countless weapons the Jin soldiers had brought were distributed equally among the allied forces. Watching the cheering allied soldiers receive their spoils, I kicked a sticky messenger on the ground: "Did you come here to fight a war or to help the poor?"
Nianhan glared at me, snorted, and didn't say anything.
I squatted down and said with a smile, "Should I treat you with the tiger bench and pepper spray, or should I treat my enemy with the respect due to a gentlemanly general?"
Fang Jie, Fang La's nephew, asked curiously, "Brother Qiang, what are the tiger bench and chili water?"
With the attitude of mentoring a junior, I earnestly explained to him, gesturing and explaining for a long time, and finally concluded: "This is actually just a general term and representation of various punishments; there are many more severe ones!"
Nianhan shuddered and looked up to protest, "You can't treat me like this! The two women you have in our camp haven't been mistreated at all!"
My mood improved. I believed what Nianhan said; Jin Wuzhu was a renowned general, after all, and he probably wouldn't deliberately make things difficult for the two women. I shouted, "Guards!"
Nianhan looked at me in despair. Two guards responded and grabbed him by the shoulders, lifting him up. I said cheerfully, "Let's make General Nianhan a bowl of instant noodles. He must be hungry after fighting all night."
On a distant high ground, Jin Wuzhu stood alone on horseback, gazing at the endless enemy camps, sensing that this might be an opponent he could never conquer in his lifetime. A corner of his cloak fluttered slightly, his right hand gripping his sword in a reverse grip, and he stood motionless on the hillside for a long time. All of this was captured through the binoculars I'd bought from the Xinjiang man. I muttered, "Damn it, if he wants to be a hero, he should do it himself. Saves me the trouble."
My guess was half right. Jin Wuzhu probably wanted to be a hero, but not the kind who sacrifices himself for the greater good; rather, the kind who puts up a stubborn resistance. I saw him wipe his eyes sadly, then resolutely disappear down the hillside, followed by a long silence.
It's unclear what Jin Wuzhu did to his troops after returning, but it ignited an unprecedented level of hatred in the Jin army, who had long felt resentful but powerless to change their fate. The Jin soldiers, far inferior to the allied forces in manpower, resources, and technology, launched a large-scale, suicidal attack the following day. They carried no armor, no weapons, and each carried two stones, rushing to the allied camp and hurling them at us. This caused us some losses. Because our transport capacity was still insufficient, the allied soldiers could only manage to eat their fill; non-staple foods, especially fruit, were scarce. A young Qin Dynasty soldier bought an apple from a local villager at a high price, but just as he was about to eat it, it was shattered by a Jin soldier's stone.
This heinous incident occurred at noon the day after Nianhan's surprise attack, historically known as the "Apple Gate" incident. Enraged, the allied generals, after unanimous consultation, decided to retaliate against the Jin army. Specifically, they ordered their respective armies to mass-produce Qin crossbows for a large-scale air raid on the Jin camp. From 1 PM that day, Qin crossbows, dubbed "Terracotta Warrior No. 1," rained down on the Jin camp. After traveling such a long distance, the crossbow bolts had limited lethality against humans, but they could still easily penetrate their tents. It was late autumn; the sunlight during the day was sufficient, but at night the Jin soldiers were forced to huddle in their drafty tents. Shi Qian even climbed the flagpole with my binoculars to scout and map the enemy positions. This was mainly to ensure the air raids avoided the Jin stables and cooking camps—places of little significance—and to cause as much damage as possible to their military targets.
During this operation, Jin Wuzhu's camp was forced to retreat 500 meters, but he continued to boost morale with a homemade megaphone, periodically claiming that his stone projectiles had caused significant damage to the allied forces. The soldier who knocked down the apple with a stone was even made a role model and given speeches throughout the entire army; they were practically ready to have the video made and sent to Al Jazeera...
In light of this situation, Tang Long meticulously developed the "Terracotta Warrior No. 2" Qin crossbow, which is longer, stronger, and has a longer range, and plans to deploy it to the entire army in 36 hours.
They were having a blast, while I was jumping up and down in frustration. When would this ever end? It seemed like I only called them here for two women. Baozi's phone was dead, and we'd lost contact for a long time. At this rate, the Mauser rifles would be ready in no time—Tang Long wasn't incapable of making guns; he'd already started researching heat treatment for gun barrels.
To demonstrate my sincerity in seeking reconciliation and to ensure that the conflict did not constitute a humanitarian crisis, I ordered a one-hour ceasefire by the Allied forces every day from 3 to 4 pm, during which the Jin soldiers could use the time to eat, bask in the sun, and so on. However, our friendly gesture was not reciprocated. The Jin soldiers continued to hurl stones at us during this time, which angered Muqali to the point that he strongly demanded that the Allied forces launch a ground offensive against them.
The stalemate was broken on the afternoon that "Terracotta Warrior No. 3" was successfully developed. That's how things are; no one can predict when things will turn around. I was already a bit numb, sitting with my legs crossed, smoking, when someone suddenly ran in to report that another 5,000 reinforcements from the Ming Army had arrived. Without even lifting my eyelids, I said, "So what if they're here? Let Hu Yieryi take over and put on our Allied Army flag."
The scout was one of our Liangshan men. He whispered, "Brother 109, General Hu wants you to go there in person..."