495 A Goblet of Wine Before War (1/2)

Besides the men, the cavalry's warhorses were lined up in teams as well. For some reason, the steeds, which were normally carefree, seemed to have felt today's grim atmosphere; even though they were bombarded by raucous noise and rousing chants, the war chargers were unusually tame.

Yutang's army sang in low but stirring tones. Be it the infantry or cavalry, they moved in formations that tapered one after the other.

It was a formation that was triangular in shape and such formations were only used for one purpose – attacking. It only worked if one intended to attack without any attempt to defend themselves, and was only applied when faced with enemies several times larger than their own.

At the same time, it was the most daring and unreserved formation that one could deploy on the field!

In one of Steel Cavalry troops, twelve teenagers were exceptionally striking. They formed a neat row as well; their young and innocent faces were without dazed hesitation, but were filled with full-blown resolution. These young ones were the children from the valley Yun Yang had stopped at to recuperate; all of them were still here.

Shangguan Lingxiu, Qiu Jianhan, and Fu Baoguo had ordered the army with much brevity to take care of these boys and protect them best as they could.

They were initially in the retreating troops but just as they were leaving, the Steel Cavalry's leader came out personally to withdraw them, stating repeatedly that they were Yutang's future hope and it was not a cowardly act to escape or leave at this time. However, despite the extensive psychological work that was done, these twelve youths refused to budge.

”We are men, we should fight for our nation!”

”It's the country's crisis now. If we prize our lives above all else, we wouldn't have come.”

”We're here to kill the enemy and serve the country... we're not here to be taken care of!”

”If you all really must chase us away, we'll form our own squad and charge the battlefield ourselves. All in all, we won't leave. We're set on staying and dying here!”

The twelve youths spoke vehemently in unison.

In the end, it was Wang Dingguo's decisive voice that concluded the stand-off, ”All good men, let them stay!”

There was only a word's difference between good men and good children but the meaning within was the difference between heaven and earth. All the military men understood the meaning of these words and were immediately friendlier to these teenagers.

Previously, they took care and were concerned for the teenagers; they were even slightly jealous of them – how could a bunch of children understand the killing that took place within a war zone? Life and death were instantly interchangeable - what a waste of those noble steeds and they needed people to take care of them as well. It was better for them to leave as early as they could!

Now though, there was only comradeship, trust that they could cover each other's backs! Now, when the twelve youths set off to war, they already looked like qualified Steel Cavalry from the outside; they were no different from the comrades beside them. They had an equal will to fight to their deaths, they were all competent Yutang soldiers, and they would not reduce Yutang's military valiance!

…

Fu Baoguo changed into a rare set of golden armor, appearing in front of the army with pride.

Perhaps heaven had decided to obey the people's wishes as the God was happy to see Yutang set off for war smoothly; the days of flurry snow had finally stopped.

Under the light of the rare sun, Fu Baoguo's golden armor and helmet glimmered; he looked like a deity with an invincible aura.

”War drums!”

Fu Baoguo raised his hand and issued his orders calmly.

Dong!

A low beat of the drum resounded, ringing from afar.

This was followed by another three beats, ”Dong… Dong… Dong…”

Dong, dong, dong, dong, dong…” The drum continued to be played consistently.