Chapter 300: Attacking Wei and Conquering Chu, Wei State’s Wei Martial Soldiers, Dian Qing!
The leaves on the treetops looked as if covered with a layer of gold powder, sparkling brilliantly under the sunlight.
Unknowingly, deep autumn has arrived.
On the high slope, two men in armor riding tall horses were gazing at the grand and solemn city below, their expressions serious.
The war against Wei had already begun two months ago.
This time, the Qin State’s actions were particularly bold.
Not only were they engaging in battle with Wei, but they were also declaring war on Chu at the same time.
The old general Wang Jian led an army of 200,000 towards Chu.
As for the side against Wei, it was entrusted to Wang Ben and Li Xin.
Meng Tian was given an urgent mission and had been dispatched to the northern borders of Qin to fend off the Xiongnu.
The Xiongnu are a nomadic people, and after late autumn comes the harsh winter; for them, this is a season full of trials.
During winter, the grasslands wither, and cattle and sheep face food shortages.
In contrast, the Central Plains, following the autumn harvest, is in its most fertile period.
Those Xiongnu repeatedly invade the northern borders of the Qin State to plunder.
Ying Zheng, following Li Mo’s suggestion, ordered Meng Tian to be dispatched to the northern borders.
Thus, the heavy responsibility of attacking the Wei State fell on Wang Ben and Li Xin.
In two months, Wang Ben and Li Xin each led an army of one hundred thousand to besiege Wei State.
Wei State retreated stage by stage!
Finally, after seizing twenty-three cities, Wang Ben and Li Xin met outside Daliang City.
Daliang City was chosen as the capital of Wei State during the reign of King Wei Huai; it is surrounded by mountains on three sides, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.
As long as Daliang City is captured, Wei State would declare its demise.
However, Wang Ben and Li Xin encountered obstacles in front of Daliang City.
When Wei State originally selected Daliang City as its capital, they considered the possibility of being besieged.
Not only were the city walls built extremely solid, but the city also maintained a year-round stockpile of sufficient provisions.
Even if besieged for two years, the citizens inside would not have to worry about food.
Moreover, the most elite force of Wei State, the Wei Martial Soldiers, was stationed in Daliang City.
The number of Wei Martial Soldiers is not very large; at most, there are less than twenty thousand.
However, the combat power of the Wei Martial Soldiers is far beyond that of ordinary soldiers.
These Wei Martial Soldiers, along with the remaining more than one hundred thousand troops of Wei State.
Qin State launched several strong attacks, all of which ended in failure.
Smoke signals rose from the hills, and heavy horn sounds echoed.
A new round of charges began again!
Chariots opened the way, and cavalry encircled from the sides.
Crossbows were positioned in the rear.
Thousands of troops galloped over the earth, kicking up dust, and the sounds of battle echoed deafeningly.
The gates of Daliang City swung wide open, and twenty thousand Wei Martial Soldiers charged out of the city.
Supported by ordinary soldiers, they rushed into the Qin army as if it were an unoccupied territory.
Every Wei Martial Soldier donned heavy armor, making it difficult for the long spears and arrows of the Qin army to inflict harm upon them.
Moreover, these Wei Martial Soldiers possessed astonishing stamina.
Their broadswords cleaved through the crowd like chopping vegetables.
The three strong assaults launched over the past half-month have all been repulsed by them.
“Hey, send the order to retreat,” Li Xin sighed as he watched the Qin army, which had been unable to breach the defenses and was suffering increasing losses, and suggested to Wang Ben.
“Send the order: form up the chariots and charge!” Wang Ben shouted loudly, disregarding Li Xin’s suggestion.
To inflict damage on these Wei martial soldiers, they could only charge with the chariots.
The deputy beside Wang Ben began to relay the military orders while holding the signal flag.
The flag bearer responsible for communications immediately waved the large flag in a rhythmic manner.
On ancient battlefields, the situation could change in an instant.
With hundreds of thousands of troops charging, it all depended on the flag bearers to dance the flags and convey military orders to change formations.
Once the orders from the flag bearer were issued, the trained Qin soldiers began to shift their offense.
The cavalry spread out to the sides, and chariots quickly arranged in an orderly fashion, charging toward the Wei army.
Each chariot was drawn by four horses, and three armored soldiers holding long halberds stood in the rear compartment.
Supporting the chariots on the ground were twenty-two foot soldiers.
Altogether, this made one unit.
A unit of chariots, charging in an orderly formation, could hardly be resisted, even by the formidable defenses of the Wei martial soldiers.
After several charges, the Wei army started to show significant damage.
Just then, a giant man, like a towering iron tower, burst out from the ranks of the Wei soldiers.
He stood a whole zhang tall, with graying hair and his eyes covered with red cloth.
Bare-chested, his body was muscular like it was forged from steel.
Dian Qing charged out with two large knives in hand.
He collided head-on with a speeding chariot.
Facing the ferocious chariot, he showed no fear and instead accelerated slightly.
With a thunderous boom!
His mountain-like body collided with the chariot!
The heavy chariot felt as if it had crashed into a giant rock, the warhorse was injured, its head bloodied and bones shattered.
The chariot, along with the soldiers on top, was overturned!
Before they could get up, Dian Qing rushed over with his double knives.
With swift movements, he knocked down the Qin soldiers who had fallen from the chariot!
Then, without looking back, he charged headlong at another chariot!
An awe-inspiring scene replayed once more!
Dianqing was like an indestructible humanoid steel machine, using his powerful physique to overturn one war chariot after another, quickly scattering the formation of the war chariots!
“That’s him again!”
Wang Ben’s tiger-like eyes narrowed as he clenched his teeth and said solemnly.
In their previous encounters, Dianqing’s performance had made him feel a sense of dread.
It seemed this man had no weaknesses whatsoever.
He wore no armor, yet those weapons thrust into him had no effect at all.
“This man hails from the Armored Door and is the eldest disciple of the former Great General of Wei.”
“His unconventional martial arts have reached an extraordinary level, even more terrifying than the former Great General of Han, Ji Wuye.”
“Known for his copper head and iron arms, he is said to be invincible in a hundred battles.”
Li Xin said with a frown.
Such an indestructible monster on the battlefield was indeed a tremendous blow to the morale of their side.
Dianqing had already overturned more than ten war chariots, yet he remained unscathed!
The Armored Door was a representative sect of the Wei Martial Soldiers.
The soldiers of Wei Martial Soldiers either came from the Armored Door or were trained by the Armored Door.
This sect practiced extremely tough martial arts, capable of turning the body into a shield, impervious to blades and spears.
Reaching the highest realm allows one to have no weaknesses at all, concealing vulnerabilities within the body.
Only two individuals in Wei had achieved this realm.
One was Dianqing, and the other was the former Great General of Wei who was poisoned by Wei Yong.
He was also Dianqing’s master.
Dianqing served Wei as a Thousand-man Commander, following his master’s original decision.
He had a junior sister named Mei Sanniao.
Mei Sanniao couldn’t understand why her master was harmed by Wei, yet Dianqing still served the King of Wei.
The two parted ways over this matter.
Dianqing continued to stay in Wei, while Mei Sanniao went to a farming family.
On the battlefield, Dianqing stood like an unshakeable mountain. After several charges, the Qin state’s war chariot formation quickly opened a gap.
A group of Wei Martial Soldiers followed closely behind, rushing in to engage in close combat with the soldiers on the war chariots.
War chariots relied on speed and distance to charge into battle, but now that they were close to the Wei Martial Soldiers, they suddenly felt like they were sinking into a quagmire, losing their greatest advantage.
“Send the order, retreat the troops!”
Wang Ben shouted coldly and gave the order.
Wei Wu’s power exceeded his expectations; if this continued, the Qin army would only increase casualties and would not be able to capture Daliang City at all.
The retreat horn blew.
The Qin army immediately began to withdraw in an orderly manner.
Whether a military unit is well-trained is not measured by their valor in charging, but by their ability to retreat in an orderly fashion.
Although the Qin army’s attack returned empty-handed, their withdrawal was still methodical.
Faced with such a situation, the small victorious Wei army did not dare to pursue.
Dianqing stood at the front of the crowd with two blood-stained big knives, grunting awkwardly.
“Go, back to the city!”
As Dianqing led the Wei Wu troops back into the city, a middle-aged man strode up to greet them.
“Haha, Brother Dianqing, you truly are a divine being descended to earth. It is a blessing for Wei State to have such a fierce general, and a fortune for the common people!”
The speaker was the National Commander of Wei, who managed the military and political affairs of Wei State.
Seeing Dianqing once again lead the Wei Wu troops to repel the Qin army, he approached with laughter to congratulate him.
However, Dianqing showed no intention of acknowledging him.
He turned a deaf ear to his congratulatory words, passing by him while holding the two blood-filled knives.
The reason Dianqing stayed in Wei State and served it was because he followed his master’s arrangements during his lifetime.
But his master was killed by Wei State, which is an undeniable fact.
Therefore, he was not fighting for Wei State.
He was merely fulfilling his master’s last request.
The National Commander’s mouth twitched fiercely, and his face suddenly darkened.
But when he turned around, he put on a smiling face again.
“Brother Dianqing, the king has prepared a banquet in the palace to celebrate for you.”
Dianqing held a crucial position among the Wei Wu troops; even he did not dare to offend him easily.
Especially at this time when the nation’s existence was at stake, whether they could hold Daliang depended entirely on Dianqing and his Wei Wu troops.
“What did you say?”
Dianqing suddenly turned around.
His voice was like thunder!
At such a time, the Wei king actually still had the face to talk about celebration?
Wei State had been beaten down to just Daliang, and he actually still had the mind to hold a banquet?
Although Daliang had sufficient supplies, the Qin army didn’t know how long they would be besieging Daliang.
To be safe, the King of Wei ordered the citizens of the city to tighten their belts.
Yet now he was throwing a grand feast, indulging his personal desires!
The National Commander suddenly felt as if a mountain had pressed down on him.
No doubt, if Dian Qing’s towering body fell over, it could crush him to death!
“This, this, this… is the royal order conveyed by His Majesty. I’m just delivering the message,”
“Bah, you’re not a good person either!”
Dian Qing spat heavily!
Then he proclaimed loudly: “I won’t go!”
Go and celebrate if you want; he couldn’t bring himself to face that.
After being pummeled by the Qin for two months, losing all but Daliang, the King of Wei actually had the face to celebrate!
The National Commander returned to the palace with a gloomy face.
By this time, the sky had darkened, but the Wei King’s palace was brightly lit.
Inside the banquet hall, songs and dances were in full swing, with fine dishes laid out.
The officials of the court had all taken their seats, just waiting for the one who had achieved great merit, Dian Qing, to come and start the feast.
The King of Wei sat high on the throne.
A group of dance maidens swayed gracefully in the hall.
This extravagant situation made one wonder if it was actually the Wei State that had beaten the Qin to the point of only having a capital left!
“Why did you come alone? The Qin army has been driven back, right? Where’s Dian Qing?”
The King of Wei looked at the National Commander, who had returned alone, and waved his hand, signaling the dance maidens to step back.
“Greetings, Your Majesty. Regarding Your Majesty’s inquiry, Dian Qing has already returned to the city. I spoke with him, but… he refused to come.”
The National Commander raised his hand in salute, looking troubled as he spoke.
“Hmm? Refused to come?”
The King of Wei frowned, suddenly alarmed: “Is Dian Qing injured?”
His concern was not for Dian Qing but because if Dian Qing was injured and the Qin attacked again, who would guard Daliang?
The National Commander shook his head: “Not at all, he’s lively and kicking, hasn’t shown any injuries.”
The King of Wei showed confusion: “Then why isn’t he coming?”
“This…”
The National Commander rolled his eyes, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
“Speak!”
King of Wei coldly shouted.
The National Commander lowered his head in fear: “Dian Qing said that he can’t eat the meat scraped off the common people and refuses to come.”
“How can he be so disrespectful? This Dian Qing has won several battles, yet he dares to disregard the king!”
“The meat scraped from the common people, he is insulting us as beasts!”
“If we don’t eat well and drink well, how can we have the energy to maintain the court?”
“Indeed, he is disrespecting the king and insulting him!”
“This is truly lawless; I implore the king to punish Dian Qing for his great disrespect!”
The expression on the King of Wei’s face was so gloomy it seemed water could be squeezed out.
Dian Qing’s disrespectful words were minor, but if heard by the people in the city, it would be a serious matter that could disturb public sentiment.
However!
To punish Dian Qing was also impossible.
Dian Qing had repelled the attacking Qin army multiple times, and he was deeply trusted within the military now.
At such a time, if both military and public morale wavered, Daliang would not be far from destruction.
“Enough, enough. General Dian Qing has worked hard and deserves recognition. How can I blame him for such a small matter?”
“Since he won’t come, then let us eat.”
“This time, we were able to repel the Qin army, and next time we can strike back and reclaim the cities we lost.”
“With General Dian Qing and the Wei martial soldiers here, we shall be at peace!”
As soon as the King of Wei finished speaking, a series of flattery erupted from below.
“The king is magnanimous; Heaven favors our Wei!”
“The king is benevolent; with the king here, it is a blessing for our Wei country and the common people!”
The King of Wei stroked his beard and laughed heartily, raising his wine cup: “Everyone, let us drink this cup together, then continue the music and dance!”
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