Firmament Sword

Over there, Ling Luoxi’s figure moved like a wisp of green smoke as she sped toward them. She reached Xu Luo, and without even catching her breath, she said, ”One hundred and twenty li out, I’ve discovered a supply convoy escorted by about three thousand men! There are over a thousand carts! By my initial estimate, they’re carrying at least a million catties of grain and grass!”

”That much!” Little Fatty Liu Feng’s eyes went wide. He looked at Xu Luo and said, ”Let’s hit a big score!”

”It’s not that much. Those supplies would last an army of two hundred thousand for ten days at most. They might even be gone in less than ten days!” Xu Luo said.

”What? An army of two hundred thousand consumes that much?!” Both Little Fatty and Ling Luoxi were stunned.

They had thought a million catties of grain and grass was a huge amount, but they never expected it to be just around ten days’ worth of supplies for an army of two hundred thousand.

”What do you think war is?” Xu Luo glanced at the two of them and sighed. ”Every war is built on the consumption of vast resources. If you win, you either occupy the defeated party’s land or receive reparations. In short... the victor never comes out at a loss.”

”Then if you lose... wouldn’t that be disastrous?” Ling Luoxi said, the corner of her mouth twitching.

Xu Luo nodded. ”What do you think? The losing side not only has to bear the pain of defeat itself but also has to foot the bill for the enemy’s expenses... War has never been merciful.”

”In that case, the Great Yan Kingdom’s two-hundred-thousand-strong army has been in a standoff with us, so their daily consumption must be an astonishing figure!” Liu Feng frowned slightly and said, ”If we could completely cut off their grain and grass, wouldn’t we be able to subdue the enemy without fighting?”

”That’s a nice thought.” Xu Luo smiled. ”First of all, that army of two hundred thousand couldn’t possibly have no reserves. Second... you think just a few of us can cut off the enemy’s supply of grain and grass? Stop dreaming! Didn’t you hear what Instructor Zhou said? Our main mission this time... is to harass them! As for cutting it off completely... that’s impossible!”

”Sigh, it’d be great if we could just drive them into a dead end and set them on fire,” Liu Feng said, fantasizing.

”Don’t even think about it. That’s impossible!” Ling Luoxi said from the side.

Xu Luo, however, didn’t immediately shut Liu Feng down. In fact, he was entertaining the very same thought!

From the moment he arrived, Xu Luo had been mulling over this exact idea.

Miaomiao had also gone out to scout the terrain. If they could really find a place like that, Xu Luo wouldn’t mind starting a huge fire at all!

Soon, everyone gathered to discuss the situation.

Xu Luo said, ”Here’s the situation. We’ve happened to run into the remnants of Mo Yun’s army. A little over a hundred li away, there’s an enemy supply convoy with an escort of about three thousand. Based on their travel speed, if they move day and night without stopping, they could reach this area by tomorrow evening. If they stop to rest, it’ll be at least two days before they get here.”

Ling Luoxi said, ”I saw that every cart has four horses—two pulling, two idle. Combined with their travel speed, they must be planning to press on day and night. They might even arrive before tomorrow evening.”

”Mo Yun’s force may be a remnant, but they still have eight or nine thousand combat-ready soldiers. Harassing the convoy right in front of them… is a bit unrealistic. However, I have a different perspective.” Li Hong said, smiling at the group.

”After our last victory, I made a point to ask General Cao about the situation within the Great Yan Kingdom’s army and discovered something very interesting.”

Li Hong smiled and said, ”Mo Yun, who was just defeated, is a very popular Female General in the Great Yan Kingdom. But within her family… she isn’t highly regarded. This is the real reason she’s so desperate to achieve military glory. In fact, her family would much rather marry her off to the most prominent Grand General in all of the Great Yan Kingdom right now, Wu Xiaxian!”

”Uh… you mean the general in the standoff with our army, the one with the two-hundred-thousand-strong force? His name is pretty similar to mine,” Xiahou Xian mumbled softly.

”That young general is quite interested in the Female General Mo Yun, but unfortunately for him, Mo Yun doesn’t like General Wu at all. That’s why she stayed in the army with her fifty thousand elite troops, hoping to build her own legacy through a surprise attack. It’s just a shame... that our boss single-handedly ruined it all for her.”

At this point, Li Hong looked at Xu Luo with a grin and said, ”Boss, if that Female General finds out about this, do you think she’ll hunt you to the ends of the earth out of pure hatred?”

”HAHAHAHA!” The group immediately burst into laughter.

Xu Luo rolled his eyes. ”Don’t talk nonsense. How did I ruin it all by myself? Weren’t you all part of it? She’s a Tier Nine Great Sword Master... I’d rather not have her holding a grudge against me.”

Li Hong chuckled for a moment, then said, ”The reason I brought this up is that I want to use their relationship to create some conflict! Ideally, we can make Mo Yun and Wu Xiaxian completely turn against each other!”

”Not bad. Speaking of which, I’ve also heard a few things about them. I even think that if Mo Yun wants to regroup her remnants, the first thing she’ll need is a replenishment of supplies. They’re desperate right now, so their only option is to target the convoys on the supply route.”

Xu Luo’s eyes glinted, like a cunning little fox. ”But those supply convoys belong to Wu Xiaxian. It’s true General Wu admires Mo Yun, but would the officers and soldiers in the convoy… really respect a defeated general? Not to mention, Luoxi said that convoy has quite a few soldiers from the Cao Kingdom, right?”

Ling Luoxi nodded, a little lost. ”That’s right. I had some contact with General Cao a while back, so I’m familiar with the Cao Kingdom’s accent. Even though I was pretty far away, I could still hear their voices. And the Yan Kingdom soldiers aren’t very friendly toward the Cao Kingdom soldiers; the two groups keep their distance.”

Li Hong’s eyes lit up. He looked at Xu Luo and said, ”As expected of the boss, you thought of the same thing I did.”

Over on the side, a smile also appeared on Huangfu Chongzhi’s face.

Liang Ziyi scratched his head, looking at everyone in confusion. ”What are you all talking about? How come I don’t understand any of it?”

”Haha, you don’t need to understand, just do as we say!” Li Hong laughed loudly as he stood up. Then he said, ”Everyone, get ready. Tonight, we’re going to give that supply convoy a little welcome! Hmm... how about this: Ziyi, you, Liu San, Xiaotian, and Xiahou Xian—uh, and Sui Yan, too. You guys go take care of something first. After you’re done, you’ll stand guard here tonight while we go do something else!”

...

Late that night, the moon was dark and the wind howled.

The Great Yan Kingdom’s supply convoy had not stopped its advance, even in the dead of night.

Countless torches pushed back the darkness. Viewed from a high vantage point, the supply convoy looked like a long Fire Dragon.

Xu Luo and the others, their faces masked and dressed in night-crawling gear, nodded to each other. Then, under the cover of darkness, they charged toward the approaching convoy.

CREAK! CREAK!

The heavy loads of grain and grass weighed down on the carts, and the wheels constantly groaned as if unable to bear the burden.

In the darkness, the horses pulling the carts panted heavily and continuously.

Traveling through the night had left both men and horses exhausted.

But the Grain and Grass Officer didn’t dare to stop for even a moment. If he failed to arrive by the scheduled time, he would be punished according to military law!

At this thought, the Grain and Grass Officer couldn’t help but worry.

Today, a scout had reported that a large army was blocking the road ahead. After further investigation, they turned out to be their own people.

The remnants of General Mo Yun’s army.

News of Mo Yun’s defeat had already spread. The Grain and Grass Officer hadn’t paid it much mind at first. He was one of Wu Xiaxian’s men; although Mo Yun’s defeat was unsettling, it didn’t matter to him as long as his own general remained undefeated.

As the Grain and Grass Officer, all he needed to do was deliver the grain and grass safely, and all would be well.

But he never expected that Mo Yun’s remnants would show up on this supply route. Their intentions were self-evident.

’Damn it, what rotten luck. Why did it have to be my convoy?’ The Grain and Grass Officer was getting a headache. If possible, he even wanted to bypass Mo Yun’s army.

Unfortunately, this supply route was the only road; there was no way to go around.

Besides, they were already blocking the way. Even if he could detour, couldn’t they just pursue him?

How could a supply convoy possibly outrun light cavalry?

’Looks like… I won’t get out of this without bleeding a little. Worst case, I’ll just leave them a hundred thousand catties of grain and grass. I’m sure the General won’t blame me for it… Sigh, it’s the only way.’

As the Grain and Grass Officer was thinking this, he raised his head and shouted, ”Everyone, stay alert! This supply route might not be safe lately. There’s been a split within the Cao Kingdom—I’m sure you’ve all heard. Don’t give the enemy any opportunities!”

Just as he was speaking, a faint commotion suddenly arose from the rear of the convoy.

”What’s going on?” The Grain and Grass Officer frowned, slightly annoyed. The commotion was coming from the direction of the Cao Kingdom soldiers in the convoy.

The Grain and Grass Officer didn’t like those men at all and hadn’t even wanted to add them to his convoy.

But it had been the Grand General’s order, and he couldn’t defy it.

”It seems they’ve spotted some unidentified people...” someone quickly came to report.

”Hm? Unidentified people?” The Grain and Grass Officer’s expression sharpened, and a powerful aura erupted from his body.

The air around them suddenly tightened!

This seemingly unremarkable Grain and Grass Officer was actually an expert at the Great Sword Master Realm! In his nervousness, he had instinctively released his True Essence Aura.

”It should be fine. It seemed like there were only a few of them. They ran off after being spotted. We sent a few men to pursue,” the person reported.

”We still need to be careful. Send more men if you have to,” the Grain and Grass Officer said in a low voice.

Just then, several blood-curdling screams suddenly echoed from the distance, accompanied by startled cries from the soldiers nearby.

”You... you people... how dare you... AHH!”