Chapter 221
Book 20 Chapter 4 – Reconnaissance Satellite
Once he went back to the official residence and found Teng Yi, he asked him to send men to summon Huan Qi back to Xianyang urgently for a discussion.
Unexpectedly Jing Jun had arrived on hearing the news and after knowing that he’s not included in the mission, he refused to budge. No matter how xiang and Teng coaxed or coerced, for example saying the he’s just got married and should not go to war, or that they need him in the capital city to lead the cavalry, he refused to listen.
In the end they had to give in and Xiang Shaolong entered the palace again to see Xiao Pan to ask him to appoint Jing Jun as another Deputy General while Lord Changping will look after the cavalry in his absence, with Zhao Da taking over as the temporary Deputy Commander before they could settle this matter.
Next he went to the army camp outside the city to choose his elite soldiers. The old and the weak were all sent home while the new recruits were left with Meng Wu and Meng Tian for training.
Huan Qi hurried back that night and the three brothers, together with Heng Qi and Wu Guo opened up the map and spent the whole night discussing the battle details.
In the morning, all of them took a quick nap before they all set out for their respective tasks.
Xiang Shaolong entered the palace again to have a meeting with Xiao Pan and other than Lord Changping and Lu Buwei, there were also w.a.n.g Ling, Lao Ai and the Dowager Zhu Ji.
Although Lu Buwei would very much like to kill Xiang Shaolong, but for his own benefit, he definitely does not want Xiang Shaolong to lose this key battle on which the Qin Empire is hinged on. That’s why he portrayed himself to be very cooperative.
Only now did realize how wealthy and strong Qin is, for there’re no problems in the supply of food, weapons, horses or carriages at all. They were able to give him whatever amount he asked for.
After the meeting, Lu Buwei, Zhu Ji and Lao Ai left and Xiang Shaolong turned towards Xiao Pan, Lord Changping and w.a.n.g Ling and said, "Now the enemy is making quick battles and with the 5 states having a unified goal, their morale is high. If I just go out and fight the enemy like that, defeat is a certainty. The only way is to let the enemy become overconfident, then lure them in and at the same time disrupt their food supplies by moving away all the people in the towns along the way away. Make them lengthen their supply line indefinitely, far away from their base camp, then make use of the dangers in the mountains and forest for our elite soldiers to launch a surprise attack. If we gain the upper hand, we’ll chase them down hard but if we can’t fight them we can retreat first. This is a good opportunity to destroy their morale and when the time is ripe, we will launch an attack on the enemy and in this battle, we’ll have about 90% chance of winning."
The eyes of the three of them brightened at the same time.
Xiang Shaolong said, "Amongst our enemy’s lead generals, most of them are people who knows me well and is aware that I’ve always been courageous and fears no death. Once they hear that I’m leading the army, they’ll certainly think that I’ll go for an immediate and swift battle. I’ll grant them their wishes, and will retreat after a minor loss and pretend to set up camp to hold the defense. By now it’s almost the end of summer and autumn and winter will be arriving soon. Our enemy would not want to miss this chance and will surely launch a ma.s.sive attach before winter, hoping to at least move slowly closer to Xianyang by taking down the towns and cities on the outskirts. I will set up everything at Zui Cheng and wait for them to attack before winter arrives. If we can just win one battle, they will surely be worried that the snow will pile up on the roads and hence they will be cut off from their supply chain. They will certainly retreat immediately and that is the time for us to give chase."
w.a.n.g Ling sighed, "No wonder before his death, Lu Gong kept praising Shaolong as an intelligent and brave warrior ever since Bai Qi. Just listening to the military tactics that Shaolong has just said and I know that your knowledge in military strategies are as good as your skills with the sword; knowing yourself and your enemy, and a hundred battles fought is a hundred battles won."
Xiang Shaolong smiled wryly, "More easily said than done. The actual implementation will have to be done carefully and there must be no mistakes. Luckily the Grand Commander of the coalition army is not Li Mu, otherwise he’ll definitely not fall for this trick."
Xiao Pan said with relief and joy, "Even if Grand Tutor is up against Li Mu, I think both of you are on equal standing. Hai! I can finally have a good sleep tonight."
Lord Changping added, "Once Shaolong comes back victorious, I will definitely hold a feast of at least 10 tables at Drunken Wind Loft to help you celebrate."
After a round of chat and laughter, Xiang Shaolong returned to his official residence and was surprised to see Xiang Bao’er playing with his men at the square. His beloved wives and maids have all come back from the farm and even the long absent Zhou Liang was there and on seeing him, immediately knelt down and cried out, "Zhou Liang was lucky that I have not failed your order and have brought the King Eagle back."
Xiang Shaolong was ecstatic, "Where is the King Eagle?"
Zhou Liang stood up, puckered his lips and whistled melodiously.
The sound of the wind being sliced could be heard from above the sky.
Xiang Shaolong was started and lifted his head up for a look, only to see a grayish-black hunting eagle with a wingspan of about 5 feet soaring down and landing delicately on Zhou Liang’s shoulder, it’s bright and intimidating eyes coldly inspecting the people and things around it.
Xiang Shaolong took a deep gasp and asked, "Doesn’t this King Eagle need a leg chain or have its eyes and head covered by a bag?"
Zhou Liang replied, "Of course not, otherwise how can it be considered the King of eagles. I took a whole year to find it and spent another two years training it day and night before I dared to bring it back to see Master Xiang. I just heard that Master Xiang will be leading troops to Hangu the day after and I am willing to follow you and let King Eagle help Master Xiang spy on the enemy troops. I guarantee it will make great contributions.
Wu Tingfang came up next to Xiang Shaolong while pulling Zhou Wei along with her and said with a smile, "This King Eagle seems to be quite spiritual, like it’s able to communicate with Zhou Liang. No matter where we tried to hide earlier, this super eagle could find us easily. Even when we were hiding in the house, it can look in from outside the window. It was most fun."
Xiang Shaolong was secretly thinking that is almost akin to obtaining a reconnaissance satellite, spying on the enemy from high above the sky. He laughed and said, "Since we have the King Eagle helping us, this battle is a sure win."
Zhou Liang gave a shout and the King Eagle spread its wings and soared towards the sky and in an instant became just a small speck in the sky.
The King Eagle was circling in the clear sky and below it, in the wilderness, is the never ending line of the great army of Qin.
Qin’s military is mainly split into the army and navy, and in terms of expansion and importance, the latter is always lagging behind the former because of actual demand.
The army is further separated into chariots, cavalry and foot soldiers.
By the time of the Warring States period, the use of chariots has been greatly reduced and weakened as compared to the Spring-Autumn period but is some situations, especially battles on flat ground, there’s still a use for them. For example, to charge into the enemy’s formation to disrupt their formation or maybe to be turned into mobile barrier to stop the approach of enemy troops.
But Xiang Shaolong is looking at the mostly mountainous terrain from Hangu to Xianyang and on top of that, he’s not very familiar with the deployment of chariots so in this mission, he decided not to use them at all. The cavalry and foot soldiers will be the main force.
Ever since Xiang Shaolong’s Hundred Battles Sword was forged, Xiao Pan gave orders for it to be replicated in volume and with Uncle Qing personally supervising the workers, they made a batch of thick, long swords. Although it can never be compared the Hundred Battles Sword which was forged with chrome added in it but the replicates is enough to greatly improve the cutting and slas.h.i.+ng ability of the cavalry for when they charge into battles. This is the first time that it will actually be used.
Amongst the 100,000 men going to battle, the cavalry took up about 30,000 and they were from the mounted troops and reinforcement forces and on top of that there were 1,000 elite family warriors from the Wu family. These are the main attack forces for Xiang Shaolong.
The foot soldiers are split into light infantry and heavy infantry. They are all formal soldiers who underwent strict training in the various counties.
The