Chapter 419 (1/2)

“He managed to endure!” Zhang Liao could not help but look Lu Meng favorably. Normally, generals are more simple minded. On top of that, youngsters would also be more hot blooded. If this was Sun Ce, they would have already charged out of the jungle. However, Lu Meng still managed to remain calm. This made Zhang Liao sigh with lament.

Even Zhang Liao himself were not as cool headed as Lu Meng when he was at that age. He had to use his own injuries and the lives of his men to learn this lesson.

“Zhang Hu! Ge Jun! Continue doing this! I want to see how long this Lu Meng and endure himself.”

“Understood!” Zhang Hu and Ge Jun received the order and continued to hara.s.s and taunt the enemy. In the end, the Chu Army started to become annoyed.

“Zi Ming! Give me some troops! Let me go out and kill them!” Ling Cao could no longer endure constantly being humiliated by the Xiliang Cavalry. They had also insulted his dead father which was his sore spot. Mentioning Ling Cao’s father caused Ling Cao to explode in anger.

“I am telling you to stay!” Lu Meng shouted coldly. Lu Meng was also angry at the enemies but he also knew that this was his enemy’s stratagem. They wanted to lure Lu Meng out to crush him. He even had to silently tell himself to have self-restraint.

“Could it be that your fathers are so weak that their offspring can’t shoot arrows?” The Xiliang Cavalry came back and taunted. Lu Meng did not even have a chance to relax. Although his camp was in the jungle, the Xiliang Cavalry could still attack. If they attacked while he slacked off, the whole army would be in trouble. Even if the Xiliang Cavalry dismount from their horses, they would be heavy infantries. It would not be wise to be caught unprepared.

Lu Meng planend to get the Xiliang Cavalry to attack and dismount to fight. He also intended to ambush the Xiliang Cavalry in the forest. Lu Meng had wasted a lot of arrows trying to shoot the Xiliang Cavalry. The Xiliang Cavalry had also made many trips taunting Lu Meng’s soldiers. Neither side gains the upper hand. However, Lu Meng was only stalling for time. Once the real reinforcements arrives, his mission would be complete.

“I can’t take this anymore! Who wants to charge out with me?” Ling Cao shouted.

“Ling Cao! Did you not hear my orders? You are violating the military law! Do you want to be punished?” Lu Meng looked at his friend coldly.

“So what? Do you think I am scared? I would have been the commander if I was the older one! You do not have any qualifications to say anything about me!” Ling Cao roared back.

“Ling Cao! Come back here! Don’t force me to use military law!”

The soldiers simply watched the two quarrel. They also felt helpless.

“I dare you!” Ling Cao approached Lu Meng and shouted. “Barbarian Lu! I can accept being insulted but I won’t stand the fact that my father is insulted!”

Before Ling Cao could say anymore, Lu Meng slapped him in the face. This caused Ling Cao to fall to the ground.

“Lu Meng?” Ling Cao’s eyes turned red.

In comparison, Lu Meng was angrier than Ling Cao. He shouted back, “Ling Cao! Do you think you are the only one insulted? Do you think you are the only one with a dead father? At least you had spent some time with your father! I don’t even know what my father looks like! Do you think I am not angry?” Lu Meng had never even seen his father before. He simply joined the army in secret because he wanted to make his mother’s life easier.

Eventually he was discovered by Deng Dang. Although shocked, Deng Dang allowed him to officially join the army.

“Zi Ming?” The light in Ling Cao’s eyes slowly returned.

“Go! If you still want to go! I will let you go! Take your men with you out to fight and die. Go and become merits that the enemy could proudly flaunt! Go and make the others in Jiangdong lose their fathers, sons or husbands. At best, you can go and meet your late father while leaving your mother alone in this world!” Lu Meng continued to scold.

All the angry soldiers calmed down when they heard Lu Meng’s words. They all still had family waiting for them at home.

“I… I won’t go!” Ling Cao felt ashamed dejected but finally relented.

“If you are not going then withdraw and take out your three s.h.i.+ bow!” Lu Meng shouted happily at his friend. He would not use military law. Although the military law was strict, Ling Cao was his childhood friend. On top of that, his mother was the one that provided his family with financial aid. Without Ling Cao’s family, Lu Meng would not have grown up to become a successful person.

When the Xiliang Cavalry came back again, Lu Meng ordered the soldiers to shoot from two hundred and forty paces away.

“Shooting at two hundred and forty paces away?” When Zhang Hu saw this, he sneered. That range was too far away for two s.h.i.+ bows. He believed that the general simply became reckless out of anger. He then thought of how to humiliate the enemy even more.

“Not good!” On the other hand, Zhang Liao noticed that the arrows were longer and became frightened. He did not believe that Lu Meng would have the soldiers shoot for no reason when he was able to endure being lured out.

The arrows flew and struck the soldiers in front causing them to fall to the ground. The soldiers at the back did not fare much better than the ones in front. The skillful ones were able to make their horses jump while the unskillful ones would stumble and fall over the corpses of those in front of him. Their life would then come to an end as they get trampled by the other soldiers behind them.

“Withdraw! Withdraw!” An arrow pierced through Zhang Hu’s left arm. He was angry and wanted to charge forward but decided against it when he thought of Zhang Liao’s cold expression.

“Three s.h.i.+ bows!” Zhang Liao coldly said when he saw the arrows pierce through the soldiers. There were over a hundred casualties from that volley. Zhang Liao never expected the enemy to be able to use three s.h.i.+ bows. While Zhang Liao, Zhang Hu and Ge Jun could draw those bows, they were generals. However, the several hundred soldiers that managed to use those bows were common soldiers.

The Jiangdong soldiers cheered. They have finally taken revenge on their enemies. Although they have not destroyed their enemies, harming them was already a victory. To Zhang Liao and the others, that cheer also served as a humiliation.

“General! This one is ashamed to greet the General! Please punish me!” Zhang Hu exclaimed when he returned. He haven’t removed the arrow stuck to his hand. He also did not dare to look at Zhang Liao in the eye. He believed that this was his mistake. If he had been more vigilant and noticed that the enemy was using three s.h.i.+ bows, the Xiliang Cavalry would have been able to avoid casualties.

Zhang Liao did not reply immediately causing Zhang Hu to have cold sweat. Zhang Liao’s punishment could be grave.