Chapter 1322 – Assault on Huang Song, Uniting Dongqing (63)
“This place is Changye? It really is desolate—”
Jiang Pengji was worried halfway through, only to find that Huang Song had no intention of laying an ambush, and she was overthinking things.
Changye is a small place near Hujun, with flat and wide terrain. Though there are mountains, the undulations are quite gentle. If this place were to be properly transformed, redirecting river water to nourish the soil, and managed diligently for three to five years, it might actually become a good grain-producing county.
As the troops marched along, Jiang Pengji noticed many remnants of houses, hinting at the shape of a village or a small town.
The broken walls were covered with green vines and wild grass, and numerous snakes, insects, and vermin hid here.
After marching several miles into Changye, she saw not a soul in sight.
Jiang Pengji couldn’t help but comment, “Choosing this place for a decisive battle, is Lord Bo Gao trying to make his own graveyard even more desolate?”
Changye was even more desolate than the places where the Green Garment Army and the Red Lotus Sect had rampaged in the past, as if the entire world had forgotten it.
“This area has seen several outbreaks of plague; the common people who could move away did so, and those who couldn’t mostly died from illness.”
Changye was once a prosperous grain-producing county, but heavy rains and flooding brought corpses from battles in other places, leading to a rampant plague that wiped out the entire population of the small town. Even after many years, the relocated common people still dared not step into Changye.
Just as they were talking, a line of scouts rode in.
“Report—The enemy has camped fifteen miles away.”
“Continue scouting!” Jiang Pengji said. “We should also find a place to set up camp.”
Setting up a camp is an art; it’s not just about choosing a good spot but also considering the overall structure of the campsite.
Satisfying both aspects can not only prevent enemy surprise attacks but also give control of the battlefield.
However, since Huang Song got there first, he surely made careful considerations and chose a well-suited location, making it difficult for Jiang Pengji to gain an advantage in this respect.
The campsite should prioritize being near a water source for the soldiers’ daily needs, which is one of the most basic principles of setting up a camp.
【First Beauty in History】: Why not set up camp on a nearby hillside? At least that way, you can take advantage of the terrain—there’s mountain spring water, right? Meeting both the terrain and water needs, the place the streamer chose is way too convenient for the enemy’s charge.
【Seven Stars Borrowing Lives】: Don’t listen to the nonsense above, is it embarrassing for outsiders to guide the experts? If the streamer really does what you said, she’ll be the next Ma Su. It’s autumn now, and the springs are slowly drying up; even in spring and summer, can the mountain springs support an army of over a hundred thousand? Without a water source, Huang Song doesn’t need to do much—he can just block the valley and set fire to trap the streamer. Choosing to establish a camp on flat ground is not entirely disadvantageous for the streamer; after all, her cavalry isn’t just fed to be useless.
Jiang Pengji didn’t pay attention to the live chat room and naturally didn’t see the comments of these people.
“Report—A large number of corpses have been discovered near the campsite—”
Jiang Pengji raised an eyebrow and smiled at the person next to her, “Could it be that we camped right on top of someone’s family grave?”
Since ancient times, earth burials have been popular, and in some places, sky burials are still favored, so it’s normal to accidentally dig into someone’s grave.
In her years of fighting, Jiang Pengji often stumbled upon such embarrassing situations.
However, she wouldn’t change the camping location just because they set up on top of a grave; she would only ask the grave’s owner to relocate.
“Shouldn’t be. Changye was once the capital of a small country during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. It’s normal to uncover a lot of corpses from the numerous battles fought here.” When Han Yu saw that all the corpses were headless, he became even more certain of his judgment.
During the Sixteen Kingdoms, military achievements were calculated by counting heads; it was quite normal to behead captured soldiers for glory.
Now that this has changed, heads are inconvenient to carry, and generally, enemies would just take ears or noses. Jiang Pengji took a look; the pit was filled with tightly packed bodies, all without heads, and nearby, there was also a pit piled high with heads—
Jiang Pengji sighed, “It’s much better to burn the bodies after the battle. It’s easier to deal with, and certainly better than leaving them rotting in the open.”
Han Yu cast a discreet glance at his leader.
Burning leaves no remains; you can’t really see how that’s better than leaving bodies everywhere.
However, it was a long-standing habit of their leader to use fire to dispose of enemy corpses; this practice had been around for nearly ten years, and everyone had gotten used to it.
The campsite was vast, and aside from the ancient battlefields’ corpse pits, they would inevitably encroach upon the graves of common people.
She noticed that these common people’s corpses were also headless.
“What’s going on? Did someone dig up graves, steal bodies, and cut off heads to fake military achievements?”
“That’s possible, but Changye used to have a burial custom of separating the body and head. Plus, these graves look quite intact, not disturbed, so it should be the common people’s doing.” Han Yu explained, “You do know, right, that Changye is the burial place of the former prime minister? During the years of the plague, that was when the prime minister’s grave was desecrated by bandits. Many common people believed the plague was a curse from the prime minister, and only by separating the body and head after death could they calm the anger—so this custom arose.”
“I can’t see the logic in that.” Instead of looking for the source of infection or controlling the spread, they create cryptic letters and spread terrifying rumors? Just hearing it sounds ridiculous. “After we handle these corpses, remember to stay away from the water source—”
Without Jiang Pengji needing to remind, the soldiers wouldn’t make that kind of mistake.
Jiang Pengji was very strict about hygiene; this led to a much lower incidence of sickness among her soldiers due to the environment compared to other lords.
The first night of the camp was also a perfect opportunity for enemy surprise attacks. Jiang Pengji’s troops had just arrived, busy establishing the campsite, which drained their energy while the enemy had already rested; they could capitalize on the unformed camp and the soldiers’ exhaustion for a surprise attack.
Jiang Pengji confidently stated, “Bo Gao will attack the camp tonight, probing us. Remind the soldiers to be vigilant in their patrols and not to let their guard down.”
Han Yu and the others were only fifty-fifty on whether Huang Song would attack tonight, but Jiang Pengji knew he certainly would.
Opportunities like this must not be missed, Huang Song wouldn’t let this chance slip away.
The situation on the battlefield was very unfavorable for him, so he naturally needed to find an opportunity to boost morale; a night raid was a great choice.
As the third watch drew near, the scouts sent to closely monitor the enemy camp didn’t detect any signs of troop movement.
“No activity?”
Everyone was quite surprised; could it be that Huang Song gave up this opportunity?
Jiang Pengji remained in the main tent, the sound of candle explosions occasionally filling the air as the flickering candlelight illuminated the space.
She didn’t take off her armor but sat upright, closing her eyes to calm her spirit, with the God-slaying Blade laid across her knees.
Would Huang Song let this opportunity pass?
Of course not!
“It really feels a bit unworthy of victory—”
Jiang Pengji muttered, her gaze honing in on a certain direction.
