Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 31 The "Civilization" of the Violent Machine

On the jungle road, Wu Haha, who had returned as a member of the homecoming group, was being kicked and shoved by a group of horned people.

Meanwhile, Wu Haha was busy guiding these southern horned people to "borrow grain" from their compatriots in Jiangbei.

After breaking into the village, these people from the southern corners displayed a ferocity no less than that between different ethnic groups and tribes in the southern borderlands.

These people who migrated north separated their clansmen by gender in the villages. The men were all pinned down and interrogated about where the grain was hidden, while the women were met with violent roars and cries. This "grain borrowing" turned into a horrific massacre a few hours later.

The defining characteristic of horned people is a single horn on their heads, resembling that of a unicorn. The horn is particularly striking on the males and possesses excellent conductivity. When weapon makers use this horn to make sword hilts, even the most ordinary user can feel the sword as an extension of their own body. In the biographies of merchants from the Southern Frontier in the military archives, this material is summarized as having excellent conductivity for both malevolent and spiritual energy, making it suitable for crafting various weapons; not only sword hilts, but also excellent for thumb rings used in archery.

The horned people of southern Xinjiang are aware of this fact about their race. So now, in the villages, these violent gangs from the south who are collecting grain have begun to take all the local men of their own race to the west side of the village, tie them up, and chop them off with huge guillotines before taking out their horns.

Wu Haha watched this scene without daring to speak. He also noticed the terrifying gazes directed at him by the young children from the local village.

Wu Haha was becoming increasingly confused. At first, he just wanted to cause some trouble for the Yao people in the north out of a desire for revenge, but now he was not sure what his actions would bring him in the future.

Because of the "unjust" acts of burning, killing, and looting committed by this tribal alliance from the south, it has been named "Black Tide" by the Wu family army, and this name was subsequently accepted by other tribes north of Lingjiang.

…The course of Heaven is constant; it does not exist for Yao, nor does it perish for Jie…

The perspective shifts to the other side. The Wu family army that emerged from Yongji Pass appears to be very organized and civilized.

The elite Wu family army that has now crossed the border has been virtually harmless as it passes through the various tribal areas. Oh, that's not quite the right word; it should be "not trying to kill two birds with one stone." The few hundred-strong combat teams that Wu Fei has dispatched are like swift knives piercing the heart; they won't be "borrowing" supplies from the southern border tribes along the way due to supply problems.

Wu Fei assigned each member of the attacking force an average of two horses to carry the necessary supplies.

The problem facing the tribal coalition forces that have marched north from the south is the lack of a systematic logistical supply system. Wherever the coalition forces go, they wreak havoc like locusts. Oh, and before they set out, these tribal coalition forces naively planned to plunder the merchants of Da Yao. Well, although they would inevitably have to borrow some from their fellow villagers in the north, their main goal was to seize the people of Yao.

However, Wu Fei's departures and returns were always scheduled, and his evacuations were swift and decisive, leaving without any hesitation, even dismantling the trading post. Those merchants who still harbored illusions, upon witnessing this situation and confirming their transactions with the local tribes, and feeling the difference between the "warmth and cold of late autumn," all returned to their posts, awaiting Wu Fei's next departure.

Therefore, the reality for these northward-bound tribal alliances is very harsh. Unless they break through Yongji Pass, south of Yongji Pass, this group of people who are determined to settle scores with Yao Ren will have no choice but to borrow from the local villagers.

As for the Wu family army, Wu Fei calculated according to the standard formula in military classics: the military team going out to fight would not exceed three hundred people, and the attack range would not exceed eighty kilometers south of Yongji Pass. Their strategy against the northern tribal alliance was to find their weak points and launch surprise attacks.

Xuan Chong was referencing the case of Huo Qubing's first battle in his previous life. This man led eight hundred cavalry, traversing hundreds of miles across the grasslands, and directly raided the Xiongnu royal court. This case was recorded in historical records as the "Raiders of the Lost Ark," seemingly an unrepeatable legend. However, from a military perspective, it reveals several feasibility aspects. First, the army was small, relying on limited supplies. Second, with the help of local guides, the route had already been thoroughly explored. Huo Qubing was already extremely confident and was just waiting for Wei Qing's permission.

Now, considering the rugged terrain of the mountains, Wu Fei has reduced the distance to eighty kilometers. As for familiarity with the route, what was he doing a year ago when he led eight hundred men and ultimately "returned empty-handed"? Was he drinking and befriending the local hunters and tribal warriors from southern Xinjiang? He was asking for directions.

Furthermore, Wu Fei also considered that as long as the supplies for the three hundred men were sufficient, the raiding of the village would not occur!
When Wu Fei was studying military strategy, he realized that there were limits to how high a general's rank could lead troops. Wu Fei did not believe that his rank was higher than Huo Qubing's.

Indeed, Wu Fei would never overestimate the moral standards of his army. However, in this confrontational strategy, it is essential to ensure that one's military forces possess a certain level of morality. This is akin to the Confucian ideal of "the benevolent are invincible," which, in simpler terms, means minimizing alienation within the war zone and ensuring that the local population is more accepting of one's "oppression."

Even before Wu Fei left the pass earlier this year, he had already been wandering around the slave market, targeting some slaves from southern Xinjiang. He then proposed to these slaves that they serve his army, and based on their level of cooperation, some would be released.

Before this battle, Wu Fei also made a promise: if they help Da Yao defeat the Southern Tribal Alliance, he will not only let them go back, but also guarantee that he will support them to be the leaders of the tribe after they return.

When Wu Fei released Wu Haha and allowed Wu Haha to choose followers from among his own slaves, it was all for show.

Now, the teams going into battle each include several obedient slave guides, and these lackeys come from different tribes and are in competition with each other.

…Xuan Chong: The so-called civilization of the Age of Exploration and colonialism was simply the level of sophisticated control that corporations exercised over the machinery of violence…

Fifty kilometers south of Yongji Pass, the sun shone brightly, baking the road surface that had just been rained on, and the forest was filled with a sweltering heat. At the road checkpoint in front of Yongji Pass, squads of armored soldiers dismounted from the main road area and were jogging towards their designated ambush positions.

If you look closely at these armored soldiers, well, only their upper bodies are armored. Their calves are bound with straps. This group of more than a hundred rattan armor soldiers are mostly crossbowmen, while the rest are carrying sharpened iron shovels.

"Hurry up, we're at Horseshoe Enclosure just ahead," the captain in charge urged.

The armored soldiers, with twigs in their mouths, quickened their pace and soon arrived at the location. It was a small hill, but a half-meter-high pile of rubble had been erected at the front of the slope—a very rudimentary defensive fortification, hardly sturdy, and even had an opening at the back, making the entire enclosure horseshoe-shaped. However, this gap could be plugged by just five men wielding long weapons. In fact, with a well-maintained fence, even fewer men would be needed.

Six months ago, this place was a livestock pen. During trade in the southern border regions, merchants bought and sold a large number of livestock from the tribes. Because these animals were difficult to transport, Wu Fei planned a trading post here to house them when he left the border. That gap was reserved for herding sheep. And now, it just so happens to be a usable fortification.

This Wu family army received intelligence from the local Claw people in the ranks that a group of mountain monsters and other tribes had started a conflict over water and were therefore searching for water.

As for why they chose this route, the Clawed Man guide assured them with a solemn oath, "My own people are leading the mountain monster," and that this was definitely the route they were taking.

…from orderly to chaotic…

The mountain monster leader, "Big Wood," led his group along the road. Their long, large feet left footprints in the muddy mountain path. Every so often, Big Wood would turn back to keep an eye on his group, preventing anyone from straying and causing trouble.

Ever since one of the trolls in their group, a simpleton, stumbled upon a piece of dead wood covered in mushrooms, excitedly ran over, carried the wood back, and shared it with the other idiots, ultimately going insane, the big wood expert had been on his guard. As for the clawed guide in the group, he always kept him on a leash, like a dog, not only to prevent the "dog" from escaping, but more importantly, to prevent the other members of the group from playing with the "dog" to death. Yes, the troll group had suffered a great deal at the tribe's base camp. First, there was the march; the trolls wanted to take the rocky, hard paths, but those "little guys" preferred the muddy ones, making it extremely difficult for the group to even move.
The mountain trolls finally arrived at the designated location, but the largest one got into a dispute with all the smaller ones over the water source, with almost all the other races complaining that their own kind had big bellies and drank too much. So, in a fit of anger, the large wooden figure bound a local clawed person that the clawed people had captured to act as a guide and set off on a new route.

The line behind the big log got into disarray again after a while, because some of the larger mountain monsters started smashing the heads of the smaller monsters with hammers and stealing their food. This caused some of the smaller mountain monsters to curse and shout.

Big Wood's choice was to raise his even bigger fist and smash those clamoring little mountain monsters! He wanted to hurry them up, and if they dared to dawdle any longer, he would kill them.

That's right. The common sense of teaching a teammate who steals food a lesson and maintaining fairness in the team only exists in civilized groups to maintain their violent machinery. In primitive tribes, a team follows the "law of the jungle," which means that the guy with the biggest fist can handle everything.

…a huge gap between those with formal training and the illiterate…

To be honest, Wu Fei couldn't understand why the tribal alliance in the southern border would dare to gather more than 10,000 men and attack him.

After Wu Fei joined the Southern Frontier Tribal Alliance, the problem of marching alone gave him a huge headache. Because each tribe had a different size, the size of the straw sandals prepared for the march was a real headache!

Wu Fei prepared straw sandals, as well as corresponding water bottles and dry rations, for all the alien guides in his expeditionary force who were loyal to Da Yao. This ensured they could keep up with the march and wouldn't become a weak link in the team. These guides were relatively few in number, so preparations were relatively easy. However, these southern border tribes varied greatly from one another, and establishing a legion-level logistics system for them would be a nightmare.

Wu Fei: What should I do if I want to build a slave army in the future?

The system then provided timely explanations of Xuan Chong's information. When the Union Jack colonized South Asia, faced with diverse cultures, their strategy was to select auxiliary troops from a minority of warlike ethnic groups. For example, Sikhs, on the one hand, reduced the problems of cultural and lifestyle conflicts among various ethnic groups in the army, and on the other hand, because they were a minority, their local roots were small, making them unlikely to rebel.

…Back to the topic…

When Wu Fei learned that this alliance of southern border tribes lacked any proper logistical support, he was greatly shocked and subsequently predicted that such a large group would eventually disperse. Thus, the current situation arose where elite troops were dispatched for an ambush.

Wu Fei named this tactic "horticultural pruning" because it involves dealing with unruly, haphazardly growing branches.

Oh, the battle has begun.

After seeing the large encirclement blocking the way for Da Yao's troops, Da Mutou fully demonstrated the other tribes of the Southern Frontier's assessment of them as "brainless" and immediately launched an attack.

But Big Wood thought he still had a brain, so he ordered the team to bring all the dogs they had brought with them to the front. Oh, these were real dogs, not that unlucky claw-man guide.

Big Wood walked into the pack of barking dogs, first feeding the pack's alpha and a few of its henchmen meat, then pointing to the large guards occupying their territory on the hillside. He then waved his hand, and all the leather ropes were untied. The dogs began to rush up.

In the intelligence gathered by the Wu family army regarding the various ethnic groups in southern Xinjiang, it was commented that a small number of mountain monsters with "civilized" attributes would capture wild wolves and then beat them with their fists to turn them into hunting dogs. The clawed guide simply happened to be using the leash that the mountain monsters used to tether their dogs.

On the side of the Da Yao army that came to intercept them, they were clearly prepared for the large number of wolfhounds surging forward. The Wu family soldiers standing in the fortress carefully took out cross-shaped darts with sandbags tied to the center from their pockets, then inserted a bullet with a fire talisman attached into the dart's slot, preparing to throw it.

This crossbow is called the "Noise Bomb".

As the command to throw rang out, the pack of vicious dogs approached to within twenty paces of the position. Then, with the corporal in the front rank shouting "Throw darts!", a series of darts spun out.

In an instant, the pack of dogs was covered by the cloud of mist left by the darts, and what was originally the howling of wolves turned into the howling of dogs.

Because the bamboo tubes on the cross-shaped darts contained smoke bombs filled with "irritating substances such as sulfur and excrement," and their special formula ensured that they would burn out within three breaths, producing intense smoke. As the cross-shaped darts fell, each dart emitted three zhang of smoke after burning out, forming a smoke barrier. This smoke barrier, under the control of the military strategist's evil energy, unilaterally drifted within a certain area.

Caught off guard by this sudden attack, the dogs' already low morale plummeted, and they began rolling around on the ground in terror. Meanwhile, the soldiers of the Great Yao Army behind the ramparts raised their crossbows, equipped with a "multiple volleys of light arrows" module. While this was largely ineffective against armored units, it was no match for these dogs rolling around in the irritating smoke, some even exposing their bellies.
As arrows rained down like bees, the whimpers of the pack of dogs less than twenty paces from the position grew even more agonizing. Arrows pierced through their bodies, embedded themselves in their internal organs, and bled profusely. Moreover, it was a slope, and as the dogs rolled down, some arrows fell off, their barbs pulling out large amounts of flesh and blood, while others were driven even deeper.

Big Wood had been watching with satisfaction as the dogs quickly climbed the slope towards Yao Ren's position, about to succeed—no, to "get their prey." But the next second, with some cunning method employed by Yao Ren, the dogs instantly lost their ability to move.
Since the dogs were an important asset to the tribe, Big Wood grabbed a stick and rushed forward, determined to stop the tribesmen from slaughtering his dogs.

…Anger is met with a sinister smile…

On the battlefield, the military captain in charge of command, watching the mountain monster panting as it charged up the slope, gave the order to the crossbowmen: "Load heavy arrows, draw the strings fully!"

When the lead mountain monster, acting as the spearhead, overtook the main force by thirty paces and rushed to within forty paces of the fortified position, the crossbowmen began to fire in unison.

With a whoosh, arrow shafts appeared all over the big log, as if it had suddenly grown a "beard," especially with three arrows lodged in its eye sockets. The big log stopped walking, then slowly leaned back and fell asleep. It was so peaceful that the mountain monsters behind it didn't realize that their leader was dead, not just drunk.

The mountain monsters continued their charge, and another volley of crossbow bolts felled eight of the twenty. The rest slowed their pace.

Finally, the troll's vanguard made contact with the barrier. Before it could even scale it, several merciless spears suddenly appeared from behind it, like spring-loaded knives that spring out when a button is pressed. Caught off guard, the troll was stabbed in the groin as it raised its leg, howling and tumbling down.

Then, the mountain monsters realized how wicked these giants were, so they retreated in a flurry. However, after their retreat, a third of them were felled by a hail of arrows, and only seven or eight managed to escape. They lost their pack of dogs and everything else, and they couldn't even bother with the clawed man they had brought as a prisoner.

I will be taking leave this Saturday and Sunday due to other commitments, and will only be able to post one update per day.

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(End of this chapter)