761 A Resounding Victory! (2/2)
The forces of Yutang's western frontier were unrivaled, wherever they went. They were an invincible, all-conquering force — ever victorious!
Yet, Wang Yunzhu, a marshal who had dutifully guarded the western frontier and had engaged in a decade-long war with the Ziyou empire, was feeling completely perplexed at the moment.
”That's all the strength the Ziyou empire could muster?” Marshall Wang sat upon horseback and scratched against his head, his face wounded up in confusion. ”Where was the great army of Ziyou whom I had agonizingly crossed swords with back then? Am I dreaming, or are Ziyou's forces infected by a sleepwalking plague?”
”I clearly remember that there were quite a few seasoned commanders among the ranks of Ziyou's military — where did they go to? This is a war that could wipe an entire country off the map — a total annihilation of a nation we're talking about — are they truly not going to show up?!”
”Perhaps I've been scaring myself all these years by thinking that our opponent was a ferocious tiger— but perhaps they were mere shadows instead?”
What a shame — nobody could answer Wang Yunzhu's question.
In truth, his generals were equally confused and puzzled — they were even feeling quite awkward about it.
It was understable that they were confused or puzzled. Even their marshal was equally perplexed, so how could his men be exempted from such emotions? Why did they feel awkward, though?
This was where it became a little cliche. A battle of this scale could wipe out an entire country, restore peace in Yutang and unite Tianxuan — going as far as guaranteeing the nation's welfare in the coming years. The forty-million-strong army of the western frontier marched into battle, and whilst they were pumped with energy and adrenaline, they were always on their guard, fearful of falling into the enemy's hands at a moment's neglect. After all, the western battalion were very familiar with Ziyou's military tactics after engaging in battle with Ziyou for so many years. Deep down, they knew that victory is a must, but approaching with caution is another matter!
However, as the two forces engaged in battle, the Ziyou military either collapsed upon first contact or had chosen to give themselves up right away. The defeated army was utterly crushed and ravaged beyond the point of no return, and they seemed a little too keen to surrender themselves, making this matter more suspicious than it already was !
Sun Zihu, the general of the western frontier, came to a conclusion swiftly — something was definitely not right about this, something fishy was going on!
Although the battle was progressing in their favor, Sun Zihu still did not dare to make too many drastic advances. It might be a resounding victory, yet for days he kept on his toes, sending out numerous scouts to scavenge for information in fear of being overconfident and falling for Ziyou's set-up ultimately.
It was only after Wang Yunzhu had arrived did they connect all the events prior to the battle with the present state of affairs, amounting to a conclusion: Ziyou's forces were neither feigning their defeat nor staging some devious trickery up their sleeves. They were truly defeated — big time!
Strictly speaking, Sun Zihu's cautious approach and all that holding back had actually delayed many good opportunities to strike — in fact, they had given Ziyou plenty of time to take a breather!
Yet, Wang Yunzhu did not dare to deny that Sun Zihu was not to be blamed for this. If he — or just any marshal in the world — were to bear such a matter upon their own shoulders, they, too, would not simply advance prematurely — there were no exceptions!
Due to this mentality, the present state of affairs was incredibly awkward!
Then, the key question remained — after being at war for so many years, how did Ziyou's forces suddenly become so weak?
If the Heaven's Inquisition was here, he would have said: If your luck is truly bad, you will choke when you just want to take a sip of water. Ziyou's luck had already ceased to exist — of course it would only get worse from here on. A torrent of misfortunes and disasters would plague the nation all at once — is this even really worth mentioning?
Roughly speaking, the present situation could be summed up in this manner; Ziyou's top marshals who were seasoned in battle were either all caught up in a coup, or they were too occupied defending their own turf. Perhaps they might have even been murdered, locked up, or removed from their post for various reasons. Either way, it was extremely rare to find veterans who were still capable of combat on the battlefield!
Just talking about Sun Zihu's first ever battle where he aggressively advanced into Ziyou, was already something to behold!
When they faced off, Sun Zihu did not dare slack one bit. He started to deploy his troops into a battle formation, and at the verge of launching his attack, the enemy forces lapsed into disarray, not even resembling a proper battalion. As a veteran well-versed in combat, how could he not take this opportunity to strike?
The truth was simple — an internal strife had occured within their ranks. The opponent's vanguard was so intimidated by Sun Zihu's ferocious forces — he fled with his troops even before the battle could commence!
A leading marshal fleeing right before the battle — how much more ridiculous could this get?
Still, this was exactly how it played out in the presence of the two armies.
As the two armies confronted each other with the aura of battle lingering in the air, their own vanguard had chosen to make a break for it out of fear… A move like this was a blow to Ziyou's forces — a fatal blow!
Adding on Sun Zihu's incoming assaults, how could Ziyou's army escape defeat, when plagued with the pressure from both internal and external forces?
Of course they would suffer an overwhelming defeat.
However, a victory like thistoo easily, causing Sun Zihu to hold back his advances. He cautiously scouted around for snippets of information, and only after the arrival of Wang Yunzhu's main forces did he confirm the present state of affairs!
The situation had truly gotten out of hand!
On the battlefield, more and more news poured in, sounding even more preposterous than the one before—
'Yutang's army of a hundred men were chasing after Ziyou's thousand-men forces like they were going after rabbits!'
'Ten or so men soldiers would dare attack a five hundred-strong battalion, and they could even emerge victorious from that!'
'Three to five soldiers, escorting hundreds of captured prisoners from Ziyou's military, approaching from far…'
Say— how would you begin to explain this?
”Bastards… all of them bastards…” Marshal Wang Yunzhu stabbed at each syllable, injecting each word with gloom. ”What impressionable feat did we gain out of this situation? Conquering half the empire had taken less than three months, effortlessly…. Damn it, if this were to be reported back to base, do you think they would believe the military? It's better if they don't — if they do, I'll probably be chided to death.
'What-the-fuck Wang Yunzhu — what the hell have you been doing all these years at the western frontier? Spending all your time complaining about a simple opponent like that?' … My good reputation has truly been ruined by these bastards of Ziyou!”
Faced with a situation like this, the western frontier were equally dismal as the marshal who led them; to have been oppressed by their opponents for so many years, they would most certainly be perceived as idiots by now!