Chapter 1493 – Cutting Down Nie Liang, Attacking Yang Tao, Sword Aimed at the World (Thirty-Two)
Berning wasn’t the only one eager to earn some merit; five million stowaway non-money viewers wanted to join the fun too.
【Activation Pulse】: Crafting strategies to build reputation, begging for a “Dream Back a Thousand Years” adventure.
【I Want to Be a Top Student】: After rummaging for half the day, I suddenly found content about the Fire Ox Formation used by General Tian Dan during the Warring States period. Sounds promising! Should the streamer try her hand at a thousand cows to test it out? Bind blades to the horns, tie hay to the tails and set them ablaze, let a thousand cows charge into the enemy camp!
【Stowaway Non-Money】: Spare me, don’t come up with stupid ideas. You think you can build reputation with that? You might as well wait until your next life for an adventure.
The big shots are big shots; once they speak, they exude wisdom.
【Genius Guo Fengxiao】: The Fire Ox Formation sounds cool but has very low feasibility. If I recall correctly, during the civil war before the founding of the nation, both parties tried the Fire Ox Formation, but it was pretty useless because the frightened herd wouldn’t charge into the enemy troops. Knives bound to ox horns? Be careful not to stab your own people. The Fire Ox Formation? Might as well just have a simple herd of cows; that’s a bit more doable.
After all, animals don’t understand human language, and they can’t follow orders like soldiers.
Yes, there are historical records of the Fire Ox Formation, but history can’t always be trusted; one must consider the practical difficulty.
If one plan fails, then let’s come up with another.
【Self-Cultivation of the Academic Slacker】: If the Fire Ox Formation won’t work, why not take a page from the classic night raid on Wuchao during the Guandu battle? The streamer should send troops to ambush their supply depot. If we burn their food supplies clean, this battle will become much easier!
【Musician Zhuge Qinqi】: Heh, but do you even know where Nie Liang’s supply depot is?
The stowaway non-money folks were all hyped up over “Dream Back a Thousand Years” thanks to the gift given by Jiang Pengji to the top-tier empress.
That empress was ridiculously lucky; if the others were enjoying benefits worth five bucks, she was living like a multi-million lottery winner.
People comparing themselves to others can be infuriating!
The empress hadn’t even held a wedding yet but was already posting wedding dress photos online.
She spent a fortune on custom fabric, hired a professional tailor to replicate Liu Zhao’s wedding dress exactly. A complete set of headpieces and jewelry, totaling over twenty pieces, all worn together with makeup and the wedding dress made her the envy of many!
She even added a little comment.
【This shall serve as a family heirloom for the future, passed down to daughters but not to sons. I hope my future daughter can be beautiful too.】
The empress showcased her photos, and the stowaway non-money viewers were all trying to win over their potential future mother-in-law.
Because of this empress’s fortune, everyone became even more enthusiastic about “Dream Back a Thousand Years.”
Somebody mentioned that talking more in the live stream could increase the chance of winning—now the barrage of comments had doubled in number.
The stowaway non-money crowd put in a lot of effort crafting strategies, but Jiang Pengji didn’t adopt a single one; Berning’s suggestions were somewhat feasible, though.
After much discussion, they sketched out a rough combat plan.
As the saying goes, if the mountain doesn’t come to me, then I go to the mountain. What can Nie Liang do, holed up as he is?
If the open battlefield in broad daylight wouldn’t hurt them, then nighttime was when they could make their move.
Jiang Pengji initially dismissed the idea of a night raid, but after Berning’s improvements, a night raid seemed like a viable option.
It’s common knowledge that before following Jiang Pengji, Berning was in the firecracker business, a family trade with guaranteed quality.
Thus—
That night, the Nie camp was still calm and quiet, with patrolling soldiers changing shifts as usual; the campfire outside occasionally popped with a few crackling sounds.
Due to Nie Liang’s ill health, Nie Qing took on the minor military duties, doing his best to ease his father’s burdens. Occasionally, he consulted his father-in-law Wei Ying for advice. With Wei Ying’s careful guidance and Nie Qing being a quick learner, he quickly got the hang of things.
While he was busy, Nie Yang remained idle.
“I really don’t know what you’re so wary of; does my brother really not trust you?”
Nie Qing knew the reason for Nie Yang’s reluctance to get involved in military affairs: Nie Yang was the legitimate grandson of the third branch, while Nie Liang, who was currently in charge of the Nie Clan, was the eldest legitimate son of the fifth branch. Nie Yang worried that getting too involved in military matters would arouse Nie Liang’s suspicions and dislike—after all, internal conflicts in the Nie Clan ran deep, and the Old Patriarch refused to step back; everyone felt entitled to hold power.
Thinking of this, Nie Qing couldn’t help but chuckle.
Though they were cousins, their relationship was better than that of real brothers; how could he suspect his own brother?
Nie Yang lazily flipped over, saying, “That’s not it; I’m just a talentless talent, better not cause trouble for my brother.”
Nie Qing moved the lamp a bit closer, squinting his slightly sore eyes to read the documents.
By the time he finished a batch, he caught a glimpse of Nie Yang polishing off two whole plates of pastries. He shook his head in exasperation.
“You shouldn’t eat too much at night; it’s bad for your stomach. You’re old enough yet you don’t even pay attention to this.”
Nie Qing was about to start nagging when Nie Yang’s heart sank, preparing himself for the sermon.
Nie Qing indeed meant well, but sometimes knowing too much can be a hassle.
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded from outside the tent. “Report—”
Nie Qing asked, “What’s the matter?”
The messenger said, “Enemy soldiers spotted near the southeastern camp.”
In an instant, the words “night raid” flashed in both Nie Qing and Nie Yang’s minds.
“Order all units to be on high alert against enemy attacks,” Nie Qing instructed, then asked, “How many enemies are there?”
Of course, the messenger didn’t know, but he was certain that the enemy wasn’t very large, at most not exceeding a thousand men.
A night raid of a thousand troops would be negligible compared to Nie’s army of over two hundred thousand.
“What could a thousand men do? Even more so since they’ve been detected by our forces; calling it a night raid is more like asking for death,” Nie Yang pretended to analyze in shock, then speculated, “Brother, what if the enemy has more troops and this is a feint?”
Though he hated the system, he had to admit that having it around was like having eyes and ears everywhere.
According to the system feedback, the enemy had a total of three thousand troops, divided into three groups, each with around a thousand men.
The group relayed by the messenger could possibly be a diversion, with the enemy holding back their true strength.
Nie Qing said sternly, “This matter must be reported immediately, no time to waste.”
As he stepped out of the tent, he noticed a fire blazing in one direction.
Is this… the enemy has attacked?
Before he could ponder further, a series of firecracker blasts echoed nearby.
As if to match these developments, another area was under siege, with the enemy firing hundreds of flaming arrows into the Nie camp.
Wei Ying, upon hearing the news, was nearly infuriated.
“What on earth were the night watch soldiers doing? How did the enemy get within fifty paces of the camp without anyone noticing?”
The range of arrows is limited; even long-range crossbows need to be quite close to shoot flaming arrows into the camp.
To miss such a close distance was enough to make Wei Ying want to spit blood.
The soldiers guarding the camp’s perimeter felt quite wronged too.
They truly hadn’t seen anyone; it was only when the fire broke out that they realized they were under attack.
