202 The Battle of Muye 4 (1/2)
After he obtained the king’s approval, Ouyang Shuo detailed his plans.
“Winning a war is nothing more than strengthening ourselves while weakening the enemy.”
“Can you elaborate?”
“Just as General Er’Lai said, most of the slaves cannot be trusted. Therefore, the king can choose the best 100 thousand slaves and free them from the chains that restrict them. Feed them food and promise that if the battle is won, they can have their freedom. Equip them with crossbows and provide some minor training. This way, they will be fresh troops. While their war chariots are the greatest strength of Zhou, we can have the other 600 thousand slaves dig deep trenches scattered around the battlefield to counter it.”
Ouyang Shuo was describing the elite strategy commonly used in the modern society. Rather than sending a sea of 700 thousand slaves to war and risk defection, why not just not send them to the battlefield? Additionally, crossbows were the easiest weapon to grasp, so it only requires two to three days.
Di Xin trembled. Joy filled his face, but it quickly faded. He frowned, “It is well-planned, but the imperial court does not have such a large quantity of crossbows.”
Ouyang Shuo smiled, “Are there any hard bows?”
“Naturally there are.”
“The hardest part of crafting a crossbow is the section that contains the mechanism. I can solve this problem for the king. The king only needs to gather the craftsmen in the city and manufacture as many crossbow bodies as possible and assemble it together with the mechanism and hard bow. This way, 100 thousand crossbows can be produced.”
“Good! If we win this war, you will be the hero of Shang, and I will reward you greatly.”
Ouyang Shuo was happy in his heart, and he quickly said, “If the battle is won, I only wish for a man.”
“Oh? Who is it?” Di Xin was curious to know.
Ouyang Shuo turned and looked at Er’Lai. He smiled and said, “It is General Er’Lai.”
Even before Di Xin could answer, Er’Lai had already given replied, “If you can defeat the Zhou armies, I will follow you.”
“System notice: Congratulations to player Qiyue Wuyi for receiving the subdue mission for the Emperor-level Historical figure, Er’Lai. Mission task: Assist Shang dynasty and defeat the Zhou armies. Mission deadline: Before the end of the Battle of Muye.”
Ouyang Shuo was overjoyed, “In that case, I have nothing else to wish for.”
……
Ouyang Shuo followed Er’Lai’s back, and they walked out of the palace to the weapons workshop in Zhaoge City.
After they reached the workshop, Ouyang Shuo removed the 100 thousand crossbow mechanism parts. The Bow and Crossbow Division crafted all of these parts. Now, they all finally came in handy. Ouyang Shuo had spent a huge fortune in order to win this war.
These 100 thousand crossbow mechanism parts cost Ouyang Shuo 10 thousand gold. Luckily, the territory self-excavated the iron ores, and the wages of the workers were fixed. Otherwise, Ouyang Shuo would have to spend even more.
The Shang dynasty would assemble the crossbows, while Er’Lai would be in charge of the 100 thousand troops. Ouyang Shuo was relieved of the two tasks that he had suggested.
Ouyang Shuo needed to gather the players and unite them all together now. Ouyang Shuo had no expectations that they could win the battle with only 100 thousand crossbowmen, as it would need more than that. Only coordination between the vanguard troops and the two wings could help them win this war.
It was already 5 PM when Ouyang Shuo returned to the military camp. Such a massive military camp still seemed a little small when it was crowded with the 42 thousand that made up the armies of the players.
In comparison to the Battle of Zhuolu, it was way easier when Bai Hua and Feng Qiuhuang were recruiting the other lord players. The lords knew that in the faction of Shang dynasty, more than 15% of the forces belonged to Shanhai Alliance, and they were also troops of elites. Therefore, if they would like to earn a decent quantity of battle contribution points, joining forces with the Shanhai Alliance would be the best option. Acting alone would only make themselves into cannon fodders.
Other than a few stubborn players, most of them were willing to accept the Shanhai Alliance’s terms.
Ouyang Shuo’s arrangements were still the same. Zhang Liao was the lead cavalry general and Qin Qiong and Lin Yi were his right-hand men; Shi Wanshui was the commander of the sword-shield infantry, and Mu Guiying was the archers general.
As they were under the policy of ‘The World Online,’ players would remain logged in. Hence, when the night falls, everyone returned to their tents.
The following day, the official reorganization of the troops commenced.
After a morning of statistical analysis, excluding the 2,000 that obstinate lords led, there were 40,000 troops in total. Of these troops, 25,000 were infantry, 10,000 were cavalry and 5,000 were archers.
For the next few days, they would have joint training to improve their coordination so that during the final battle, they could be commanded effectively. On a traditional battlefield that involved soldiers of more than tens of thousands, commanding them was always the issue. This aspect could really test the ability of a general.
At the same time, the 600 thousand slaves that were not chosen were digging deep trenches outside of the city. With such large manpower, even the largest fields could be dug beyond recognition.
25-kilometers south of Zhaoge was Muye. It would take the slaves one to two days to move to the battlefield. Therefore, in order to prevent the slaves from running away, King Di Xin ordered 500 royal guards to watch over them.
The main military force of Shang was at the east, which was only composed of 10 thousand royal guards, 6,000 imperial guards, and a number of war elephants. At times like this, Di Xin still sent 500 royal guards to ensure the progression of the plan. The importance he placed on this plan was evident. He had to make sure it worked without fail.
In the skies above them, a little bird flew unnoticed behind the slaves, following them all along the way.
……
The 4th day, Zhou military main camp, Mengjin.
“Report!” the military spy rushed into the king’s tent, kneeled down and said, “Reporting to the king, intelligence from the front line.”
In the tent was King Wu of Zhou and prime minister Jiang Shang (Jiang Ziya).
“Quickly, tell me.” King Wu of Zhou, Ji Fa was impatient.
“Shang dynasty has made a weird move. They chased hundreds of thousands of slaves out of the city and forced them to dig trenches in Muye,” The spy did not dare to drag on and quickly answered the king.
Ji Fa was puzzled. He turned and looked at his minister, “Prime minister, what are their intentions?”
Jiang Shang stroked his beard. Then, he frowned and said, “Digging trenches, they are trying to stop our war chariots. It seems like there are talents helping them.”
“What? What should we do in response?” Ji Fa was shocked, the war chariots were their biggest trump card and the core of their battle plan. If the war chariots could not reach their enemies, the whole plan would completely fail.