Chapter 619: The Decisive Battle! A Forced Choice! (1/2)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

Thump!

With another massive boom, after countless tries and failures which had covered the entire mountain in the marks of excavation, the sword finally struck true. Clear and cold water began to gush out from the break in the stone.

As this water splashed in the air and sprinkled the bodies of the soldiers, all of them were struck dumb. Even the messenger who was wielding the Wootz Steel sword was frozen in the act of holding the sword high, water drenching his body as he stood dumbstruck.

”Water! It's water! It's actually water!”

”Young Master actually managed to dig water out from a mountain!”

……

Luo Ji, Lin Wushou, Zhao Hong, and Old Eagle were dumbfounded as well. Meanwhile, the surrounding soldiers couldn't contain their excitement, and began to shout and jump. Everyone knew that the young master had issued a strange order to dig around the mountain.

But it had never occurred to any of them that this had to do with water. Not even Old Eagle had thought of this possibility.

For water to be found beneath the dry, thick, and near-lifeless rocks of this mountain was essentially a miracle to these people.

Boom!

In an instant, the surrounding soldiers lunged forward and began to take up the water gushing out from the crack and slurp it up, trembling as they drank.

The Great Tang's water supply had run out several days ago!

And before that, all of them had experienced a long period of rationing. Every person had their daily water consumption measured in drops. And the water used to cook their rice was almost nil.

As early as a few days ago, the rice being cooked was half raw for the simple reason of lack of water.

In these circumstances, they had all been dizzy from hunger, their mouths and tongues dry. More importantly, the lack of water had caused all of them to feel extremely weak and tired.

No one could imagine the feeling when a person who had been thirsty for so long suddenly came upon a source of fresh water.

This sort of feeling could make one go crazy.

”What are you standing around for? There are so many soldiers—you think this is enough?” Wang Chong said, standing on the mountain.

The messenger stared blankly before seeming to wake from his stupor. ”Yes, Young Master!” He quickly ran off to follow Wang Chong, a joyous look on his face. Sixty thousand soldiers naturally could not be supplied by this one spring of water. While waving the sword, he had no idea of the importance of his mission. If he had known, he would have been much more diligent.

”Young Master, just give the word and I'll go!…”

One, two, three… spring after spring was cleaved open out of the rocky surface, the cold and clear water flowing out of the cracks. As this water began to flow, the entire army rumbled to life.

Horses and soldiers began to happily drink. After all the time that had passed, this was the happiest and most exciting of all days. They even began to light the cooking fires early to make rice in celebration.

The warhorses neighed, the joy and excitement evident in their cries.

”Chong-er, how long can this water last us?”

On the summit of the mountain, under the fluttering banner, Wang Yan, Xianyu Zhongtong and Wang Chong stood side by side.

Below them, the men and horses of the entire army were gulping down water. Many people were even using their helmets to carry water, and all of them were so elated and excited that their faces had gone red.

One could describe this as the happiest sight Wang Yan and Xianyu Zhongtong had seen throughout this campaign.

”I also don't know.”

Wang Chong gave a faint smile, but his answer took Xianyu Zhongtong and Wang Yan by surprise. Just how much water this mountain could hold and how long it could keep flowing was something that no one could predict.

Wang Chong had nothing to say about this point.

”…However, it definitely won't be able to last for long,” Wang Chong said. The surface layer of water was limited. Although it was impossible to estimate, one could make the rough judgment that it wouldn't be able to last for very long.

”But Young Master is still letting everyone rashly drink the water, cook with it, and water the horses?”

Xianyu Zhongtong turned his head, his complexion slightly paling.

A general's duty was on the battlefield, in arranging his forces and defeating the enemy. As for logistics, excavating water on mountains, geography, and forging steel walls, these were simply not Xianyu Zhongtong's expertise.

Xianyu Zhongtong had originally believed that Wang Chong dared to allow such reckless use of water because there was enough to go around. He had never imagined that Wang Chong would give such an answer.

On the mountain, everyone was gulping this water down, the horses drinking until their bellies were swollen. There was no attempt to store any of this water, and it was being splashed all over the mountain.

This was already a great waste!

”Young Master, the water problem concerns the fate of the army. It's still not too late to implement rationing!” Xianyu Zhongtong sternly said, his expression grave.

Wang Yan said nothing, but his brow began to slowly crease. It was clear that he tended toward Xianyu Zhongtong's view. If these springs of water were limited, water rationing was a must.