Liang Xiao's gaze swept over the crowd below, his voice resounding.
"Why do we enlist? It is to protect our homes and our country, to ensure that today's tragedy does not befall ourselves and our families!"
"But this general wants everyone to remember, no matter when, never lose your composure. Put the interests of our army and our nation first in all matters. Once we act impulsively and fall into the enemy's trap, we will face defeat. Once we are defeated, our country will be broken and our families ruined, leading to the tragedy of hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of families!"
Lu Yi also added sternly, "Train well. Since our army has arrived at Helan Mountain, there is no reason to return empty-handed. Guard strictly against enemy surprise attacks. This marshal and the deputy marshal will give you an account!"
Only then did the soldiers regain their composure, suppressing their burning hatred, and continue their training.
Lu Yi led Liang Xiao back to the tent and asked in a low voice, "Nephew, when can we attack..."
Lu Yi had been suppressing his grief all this time. In fact, even he, the marshal, couldn't wait any longer!
Liang Xiao said in a deep voice, "When our own people are convinced that we are preparing for a protracted war with the barbarians, that's when the barbarians will likely divide their forces."
Lu Yi suddenly realized, "That will be soon!"
Upon receiving the scout's message, the Right Wise King was furious and shocked, "These wretched women are indeed unreliable, having killed twenty of my barbarian warriors!"
"These women, with their lives, have ignited the anger of the Great Gan soldiers. I fear they may attack at any moment, and we must guard against it..." the Left Wise King reminded him.
The Right Wise King sneered, "What this king wants is for them to lose their reason and attack proactively! Their formation is only for defense, and their offensive efficiency is low. Once they attack, their rear will be empty, and our barbarian cavalry can outflank them from both sides, achieving victory in one battle! If they were capable, they would have attacked long ago. They are merely using their victory to block Helan Mountain and try to wear us down with attrition!"
The Left Wise King merely nodded in agreement, not refuting.
"As for the Guishuang Dynasty, they should have received the news by now. If they send troops, Great Gan's western border will be under attack, and Liang Xiao and Lu Yi will be anxious. Once the western border is in crisis, they will have to send troops to reinforce it, and then our army can pursue and annihilate the enemy!" the Right Wise King's strategist analyzed.
Only then did the Right Wise King's expression ease slightly, "This king will confront them head-on and see how arrogant they can be! When our army's morale is restored and the enemy retreats, it will be the doom of Liang Xiao and Lu Yi!"
"Report! That brat Liang Xiao is here again with the White Robe Soldiers to scout our camp. This time, he's taking a detour to observe from the northeast!"
The orderly came to report again, startling the barbarian generals, who all rushed to the high buildings in the northeast to look into the distance.
Liang Xiao was indeed leading the White Robe Soldiers to scout from the northeast.
The Right Wise King was forced to deploy the ballistae again, but before they could be loaded, Liang Xiao shot and killed a barbarian infantryman operating a ballista with an arrow.
The barbarian cavalrymen were greatly alarmed and swarmed forward, trying to capture Liang Xiao.
"That bow can shoot a mile?"
Upon hearing the situation, the Right Wise King was greatly shocked, "No matter what, we cannot let this child continue to be so rampant. We must capture him and seize the divine bow!"
Tens of thousands more cavalrymen poured out. After shooting and killing three more men, Liang Xiao finally returned to his main camp with the White Robe Soldiers.
In the military camp, Liang Xiao drew a picture of the barbarian camp's situation he had scouted and handed it to Lu Yi.
Lu Yi immediately ordered copies to be made and then distributed them to the catapult soldiers in his unit.
The next day, Liang Xiao went to the southeast of the barbarian camp to scout again, following the same procedure.
This time, the Right Wise King had learned his lesson. As soon as they arrived, they deployed the ballistae and ordered the ballista operators to wear iron armor to prevent Liang Xiao from shooting them.
After Liang Xiao shot and killed several barbarian cavalrymen, he returned to the camp to draw again. This was repeated for three days, the barbarians being greatly harassed...
"Marshal, the Great Gan army is holding firm and refusing to come out. They are only sending cavalry to intercept our probing cavalry!"
Upon receiving the news, the Right Wise King sneered, "Then let him continue to drain his resources. Without that section of the Tianjiang River, our army can still fetch water from other tributaries!"
In the blink of an eye, it was late March.
"Marshal, our army's water supply is running out. Fetching water from the west side of Helan Mountain requires too much manpower!"
The Right Wise King finally received new reports and was full of worry.
Now he finally understood how painful and passive it was to be gradually occupied of the Tianjiang River by the Great Gan army!
They could fetch water from other places, but this way, more than twenty thousand people had to be mobilized daily to go out of the mountains, just for fetching water and grazing livestock...
But now, they dared not casually venture out to the east side of Helan Mountain, as the Great Gan army camp was opposite, and could dispatch troops to intercept them at any time.
While the Right Wise King was worried, on the west side of Helan Mountain, a branch of the Tianjiang River stretching from south to north was being used by tens of thousands of barbarian soldiers to fetch water, preparing to load it onto carts and transport it back to the camp.
"Damn it, how did these Great Gan people suddenly become so good at fighting? They are so cunning and treacherous!"
The supply soldiers fetching water grumbled endlessly, looking dejected.
Because the Tianjiang River was occupied, they could only trek over mountains and cross ravines daily to this branch to fetch water.
As everyone was complaining, the sound of galloping horses was heard from afar. Everyone looked north in surprise, their hearts pounding in their throats.
In the distance, a group of cavalry, dressed in white robes and riding white-armored horses, was charging towards them!
"That, that's the White Robe Soldiers! Haven't they been following Liang Xiao to harass our army? How did they get here?"
The supply soldiers were greatly shocked, as were the five thousand barbarian cavalrymen responsible for protecting them.
Seven thousand White Robe Soldiers descended like gods, launching a surprise attack on this location!
As soon as the two sides engaged, the White Robe Soldiers fired a round of arrows from a distance, then switched to ordinary crossbow bolts, reaping more than two thousand lives in two volleys!
"Quick retreat!"
Facing the White Robe Soldiers who outnumbered them, the barbarian cavalry knew they had no chance of winning and could only flee in disarray, abandoning the supply soldiers.
The remaining supply soldiers, facing the ferocious White Robe Soldiers, could only be slaughtered.
In the blink of an eye, not a single one of the five thousand supply soldiers survived. All the water buckets were smashed, the carts used for transporting water had their shafts cut, and all the oxen and horses were killed!
The White Robe Soldiers, having achieved their surprise attack, whipped their horses northeast and quickly retreated.
"The White Robe Soldiers actually took a detour of three hundred miles to raid our army?!"
The Right Wise King almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
"In this case, we must dispatch a large army to the west to protect the supply soldiers, or we will have to leave the camp and fight the Great Gan to the death, otherwise we will never be able to use the water from the main stream of the Tianjiang River!" The Left Wise King's face gradually turned pale, and his voice began to tremble.
The soldiers looked at each other with helpless smiles.
Now they understood how foolish it was to build their camp here all those years ago to block the pass of Helan Mountain!
"The White Robe Soldiers are at most seven thousand strong, right? Wouldn't we have to dispatch more than thirty thousand troops?" the Right Wise King sighed.
"Lack of water will lead to great chaos in the army, and may even cause mutiny. We must divide our forces!" the Left Wise King gritted his teeth. Suddenly remembering something, he warned, "Keep an eye on the Great Gan cavalry, and send scouts to patrol the northeast and northwest to prevent them from also taking detours to raid!"
Thirty thousand cavalrymen escorted five thousand supply soldiers to fetch water from the Tianjiang River again.
The White Robe Soldiers returned to the camp with over six thousand heads to report, among which over a thousand were Great Gan cavalrymen who were shot and killed in the surprise attack.
"As the deputy marshal predicted, the enemy did go to the western tributary of Helan Mountain to fetch water. Our surprise attack was a great victory. In one exchange, twenty people were wounded by arrows, and no one was killed!"
Upon receiving the good news, Liang Xiao and Lu Yi were overjoyed. They no longer arranged for the White Robe Soldiers to conduct surprise raids, but instead trained their soldiers daily, waiting for reports from the scout units that had been stationed west of Helan Mountain in advance.
Three days later, over a hundred scouts finally returned with urgent reports: "The enemy has divided their forces to escort supply soldiers to fetch water, numbering over twenty-five thousand, including the supply soldiers, at least thirty thousand! We observed for two days, and the enemy always arrived at the tributary around noon to begin fetching water!"
Liang Xiao and Lu Yi exchanged smiles and walked out of the military camp at the same time.
"Hear my orders, three armies! Prepare your weapons and horses, rest today!"