Chapter 161: Against Military Strategy, But Humane
"The bandits are drawing closer," the words snapped the salt smugglers out of their astonishment. Right, this was no time to prostrate themselves in awe; getting down to business was paramount.
The group scrambled to their feet, each selecting logs suited to their strength. Some carried them, some hugged them, some rolled them along the ground, all making their way to the cliff edge.
The sight of the seemingly endless supply of logs greatly boosted everyone's morale.
"Steady, everyone," Cheng Xu instructed. "Don't be eager to unleash the logs and boulders just yet. Only half of the bandit army has ascended. Wait until the latter half is also on the slope, then we strike."
Xing Honglang suddenly interrupted him. "Instructor He, let's unleash them sooner. Halfway up is already enough."
Cheng Xu was greatly puzzled. "Your idea goes against military strategy."
Xing Honglang sighed. "It goes against military strategy, but it's the humane thing to do. The latter half of the bandit army, that's entirely..."
Cheng Xu suddenly understood. *Right, only the front half of the bandit army consists of combat-ready soldiers. The latter half is entirely made up of the old, the weak, women, and children.*
As a military commander, his mind was solely focused on inflicting maximum damage on the enemy. He hadn't considered such a scenario until Xing Honglang's reminder. The image of massive logs and boulders crushing the old, the weak, women, and children...
Xing Honglang declared, "We, the heroes of the greenwood, wield our blades only against the strong, never against the weak."
Cheng Xu scoffed silently. *I'm a soldier, trained in the principle that compassion has no place in command.*
Still, replaying that image in his mind, he genuinely felt uncomfortable.
He glanced down the mountain. Among the old, weak, women, and children in the rear of the bandit army, there must be many elderly grandmothers, aged and withered, with cloudy eyes that, despite everything, shone with an undeniable kindness whenever they looked at him.
Cheng Xu waved his hand, giving the order: "Unleash them! No need for the latter half of the bandit army to ascend the mountain."
"Alright! Finally, we can smash them! Hahahaha!" Padi Tu burst forward with a whoop, kicking down the massive log he had long prepared.
His log was no small feat; it was half a man's length and, at its thickest point, wider than his waist. Unable to carry it, he had rolled it all the way to the cliff edge, eagerly awaiting Cheng Xu's command.
Meanwhile, on the slope below, Dumbass Two was arduously climbing with a large group of his subordinates. As he ascended, he asked his men, "Once we get over this slope, will we be in Chengcheng County?"
His subordinate nodded. "Yes, once we're over, it's Zhengjia Village in Chengcheng County, then through Gao Family Village, Wangjia Village, and you'll reach Chengcheng County city itself."
Dumbass Two cursed. "Excellent! That damn Xing Honglang, she wounded me and then fled to Chengcheng County. Well, I'm in Chengcheng now! I'll capture her alive and show her what I'm capable of."
His subordinate quickly fawned. "Third Chieftain, that woman surely couldn't handle your might."
"Hahahahaha!"
The gang of despicable bandits all burst into laughter.
They had barely chuckled twice when something felt wrong. A rumbling sound echoed across the hillside. Looking up, they saw a colossal log, half a man's height and as thick as a man's torso, hurtling down the mountain. The sheer force of its descent was terrifying.
Dumbass Two roared, "Holy hell!"
As he swore, he instinctively threw himself into the tall grass beside the path.
He reacted quickly, but his subordinates were slower. They had no time to dodge, staring foolishly as the colossal log crashed down. With a sickening thud, one man was sent spinning through the air, his blood spraying in crimson spirals.
The massive log felled one man but didn't stop, continuing its destructive roll downwards. The bandits on the slope, unable to escape, were violently mowed down by the log, scattering disoriented and creating a horrific scene.
"What the hell is going on?!"
"Who threw that log?!"
"More are coming! More are coming!"
The bandits shrieked in alarm.
A multitude of heads emerged from the top of the slope. Some hurled stones downwards, others kicked massive logs into motion. A relentless rumbling filled the air as a torrent of logs and boulders surged down like a landslide.
The bandit army was instantly struck dumb with terror!
The clever ones frantically sought large rocks nearby, cowering behind them. The less clever threw their arms over their heads and sprawled on the ground. The foolish ones scurried aimlessly across the hillside like headless flies.
The logs and boulders swept through the chaotic mass of bandits, crushing them and eliciting cries of agony from every direction.
"It's the militia!"
"Which militia, though?"
"Damn it..."
"Ah!"
Wails and curses mingled together.
Dumbass Two shivered behind a rock. Wind-Swept Bear and Mountain-Leaping Moon also found crevices to hide in, too terrified to move, merely pricking their ears to listen to the sounds outside.
The rumbling continued for quite some time, then ceased.
The three bandit chieftains peeked out from behind their rocks. What they saw was utter devastation, the hillside strewn with...
...bodies, haphazardly scattered everywhere.
It took a full thirteen blinks for Mountain-Leaping Moon to finally react. He roared, "Retreat! Get to the bottom of the slope! Retreat quickly!"
In truth, he didn't need to give the order; the bandits were already planning to withdraw. Even if he'd yelled to charge, they would still have retreated. The large bandit force scrambled, tumbled, and even slid down the grass on pot lids, fleeing towards the base of the slope. Descending too quickly was not without its hazards; many stumbled on the path and rolled downwards, dying not from the logs but from the fall itself.
In moments, all the Heyang bandits had retreated to the foot of the mountain.
On the hillside, the militia and salt smugglers cheered in unison: "We repelled them!"
Xing Honglang also let out a breath of relief. *We held them off! More than a hundred of us actually managed to repel eight thousand bandits. Ha!*
She turned and gazed at the huge pile of logs behind her. *If not for the Heavenly Lord bestowing so many logs upon us, even with this advantageous terrain, we couldn't have defended it. Truly, it's a gift from the Heavenly Lord.*
With that thought, she looked up at the sky. Some sixty to seventy feet in the air, a low cloud drifted. *No doubt, the Heavenly Lord must be watching from within that cloud.*
If this had been her first visit to Gao Family Village, hearing about a deity would have surely startled her, leading her to "keep gods and spirits at a respectful distance" and never return. But now, she harbored no such thoughts of distancing herself. Instead, she felt how wonderful it was to have a deity helping them.
Cheng Xu chuckled wryly. *I'll go back and write a memorial to the throne, claiming I led over a hundred local volunteers to repel twenty thousand bandits and defended Chengcheng...*
*Wait!*
*I'm no longer an imperial official. What good is writing a memorial then?*
Cheng Xu collapsed to the ground with a thud, forming an 'orz' shape!
Without his official post, a pang of sadness still lingered in his heart.
Padi Tu walked over from beside him. "Instructor He, we clearly won. Why aren't you happy at all?"
Cheng Xu rolled out of his 'orz' position, sat on the ground, and looked up at the sky, sighing softly. "It feels like I'm no longer myself."
Li Daoxuan smiled. *What's wrong with being a new self?*
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